Telstra could see a million square kilometres wiped from its coverage map under new draft standards put forward by the Australian Communications and Media Authority (ACMA).
The new standard, backed by TPG (the parent company of Vodafone) and Optus, proposes that areas with signal strengths lower than -115dBM be declared as not having usable services. Telstra, however, says it should be able to label areas with lower strengths, as low as -122dBm, as having usable coverage on its maps.
In its submission to ACMA, TPG took aim at Telstra's coverage maps and their division into "Initial View" and "Full Coverage". Telstra says the Initial View is coverage that is fast enough for video streaming, while "Full Coverage" areas may not be sufficient for higher data activities. Telstra's 99.7% of the population coverage figure is based on its "Full Coverage" maps.
In third-party drive testing it commissioned, TPG says the results showed that a typical user with a mobile phone is "very unlikely" to receive usable service in "Full Coverage" areas on Telstra's coverage maps.
"Importantly in some places within this area, the phone registered a signal but could not establish a voice call. In other places, no signal was registered at all," wrote TPG.
This testing was conducted in over 20 locations.
Telstra is arguing against the draft standard, with Group Executive for Global Networks and Technology, Shailin Sehgal, saying that more than 1.5 million of its customers use coverage below -115dBM each month.
"Every day in these coverage areas 700,000 voice calls are made, 750,000 texts are sent, and 300TB of data is transferred," wrote Sehgal in a post on the Telstra blog.
"The draft standard defines any signal strength below -115 dBm as "no coverage" and this is a real problem for several reasons - including that it would mislead customers and reduce the practical value of coverage maps."
Sehgal does, however, say that signal under -115dBM should be classified "as the lower end of where you can get good mobile coverage outdoors".
ACMA is set to complete the standard by the end of March, with the goal of it operating by June 30.
TPG has been taking issue with Telstra's approach to coverage maps since last year, where it alleged the company had been misleading consumers over the size of its mobile network for over 15 years.
TPG alleged that Telstra's network size claims were based on the use of an external antenna, but after a "deep review", Telstra said it stood by its claims.
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Alex Choros
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