Telstra has announced that its Coverage Advocates program had made contact with thousands of CDMA customers.

According to Geoff Booth, managing director Country Wide Group for Telstra, the Coverage Advocate team had made thousands of phone calls and conducted over 550 visits to CDMA customer homes and workplaces to discuss migrating to the Next G network.

“[Telstra wants] to prove coverage equivalence and help ensure they get the right handsets and equipment,” he said.

The Coverage Advocates were announced in response to a recent statement by the Minister for Broadband, Communications and the Digital Economy, Stephen Conroy. He claimed that the Next G network footprint is equivalent to the CDMA network but he wanted Telstra to put in place extra measures to assist customers with handset issues.

“The great news is that the Coverage Advocates program is working and the remaining CDMA customers are making the move to the Next G network with added surety and confidence,” said Booth.

Telstra offered examples where positive results were achieved through the Coverage Advocates program. In Lakes Entrance, Victoria a business customer tested the Next G service on country roads in locations that his CDMA phone could not make calls. The Next G Country Phone was successful in finding coverage in this case.

The telco has launched a hotline for customers experiencing issues using next G handsets and asserts that coverage depends on an individual's location, the handset being used and whether it has an external antenna attached.

"Our intention is to resolve any coverage issue in a timely and efficient manner," said Booth.