According to reports, the document was lodged to the government last 30 June, and the recommendations it suggested were the same to those made in the ACCC’s preliminary report.

The ACCC report cited Telstra and Optus to support emergency roaming arrangements.

It found that temporary emergency roaming was technically feasible, but further work was needed to design and develop the capability.

The study would need to address technical and commercial issues and the risk of congestion on whichever carrier had to accept influx of calls in time of the disaster.

It recommended that coordination between government and mobile network operators would also help mitigate risks such as network congestion.

The government has directed the Department of Infrastructure, Transport, Regional Development, Communications and the Arts (DITRDCA) and the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) to collaborate with mobile carriers and to produce a report by March 2024.

“The government will work with industry to scope a new emergency roaming capability so that Australians can stay connected during disasters, regardless of who their carrier might be,” said Minister for Communications Michelle Rowland in a statement.

“Making sure we have the right regulatory settings is also critical to deploy mobile infrastructure in regional communities, including considering infrastructure sharing between carriers.”

Tower regulation already "obsolete"
The report also added that the carriers’ sale of mobile infrastructure in relation to the emergency roaming is no longer “fit for purpose.”

It argued that the code covers only the carriers (Optus, Telstra, and TPG Telecom), not the tower owners.

“Each of the three mobile network operators sold their tower portfolio to a separate tower company. This has created a strong bilateral contractual relationship between the old owner and the new owner, which can create restrictions and impact whether infrastructure sharing options are pursued,” ACCC Commissioner Anna Brakey said.

This first appeared in the subscription newsletter CommsWire on 24 October 2023.