Telstra to test emergency mobile roaming

Telstra is the first carrier to simulate emergency roaming on its mobile network, a week after the ACCC backed the capability for use in natural disasters.

“With the number and severity of natural disasters increasing, industry and government have been discussing the technical and commercial hurdles that will need to be overcome before emergency roaming can be introduced,"Telstra said in a blog post.

As the ACCC noted last week, one of the key technical challenges is whether incoming traffic from other carriers’ customers could overwhelm the destination network.

The carrier said it will begin by simulating roaming on its own network.

Telstra announced other natural disaster initiatives at the same time.

Customers in disaster areas and on monthly mobile plans will automatically receive 100GB of extra data for free, within 30 days.

Batteries are to be added to 1000 payphones in regional and remote areas, the carrier said, so they work longer in natural disasters.

“[Payphones] are really important,” Telstra Response Team Lead Steve Tinker told a press conference in Melbourne.

“Sometimes they’re the last piece of infrastructure you can use … these thousand payphones will be upgraded to have additional battery backup, so if the power does go out, they’ll last longer.

“They’ll provide free wifi in that area, and USB charging ports.”

Telstra said the payphone upgrades have begun and should be complete by mid-2025.