The communications regulator has not collected basic data on how telcos have implemented a new phone-blocking rule following the 3G network shutdown, despite flagging a potential "conflict of interest" inherent to it.
Days ahead of the shutdown late last year, the government finalised a new "direction" that required telecom companies to refuse service to phones that relied on 3G for making emergency calls.
This gave telcos — which profit from selling phones — the singular authority to block phones they deemed non-compliant from their networks.
In its analysis of the impacts of the new rule, the regulator ACMA noted a potential "conflict of interest" in this arrangement.
"[Telcos] stand to benefit from selling replacement devices," it noted.
The regulator promised to monitor the situation by requesting data from telcos around which phones were being blocked.
However, when asked by the ABC — six months after the 3G network was shut off — an ACMA spokesperson said it had not yet requested this data.
The regulator said it "will shortly write to relevant telcos to collect the data outlined in our impact analysis".
In the meantime, customers have been dealing with seemingly arbitrary decisions around which phones continue to work — and which don't.
Inconsistencies across network providers
The ABC has scraped data on 221,927 types of devices from official checking tools provided by Optus and Telstra. (TPG does not offer a similar tool).
The data revealed that the telcos are inconsistently blocking 16,822 registered device types — based on their TAC codes, which are eight-digit numbers that identify their make and model.
While the two telcos agreed on 7,621 codes being unsafe for use, this number was dwarfed by the 15,844 blocked by Optus but not Telstra.
These inconsistencies are causing chaos for customers, with perfectly functional phones having been denied access to the network since November.
IT professional James Parker — who originally noticed the discrepancies — has independently compiled a similar dataset, incorporating user reports to fill in the gaps left by TPG not having an official checking tool.
He says that Telstra has a more accurate set of blocked phones than Optus, though both are "extremely flawed".
His analysis has found "brand new 5G phones" that are blocked on some carriers, but not others.
A Telstra spokesperson said the company ran "rigorous checks of devices' capabilities, including cross-referencing manufacturer specs, industry data and our own testing."
"In some rare cases, devices behave differently depending on the mobile operator's network it's connected to," they said. "This means a device may be blocked as incompatible by one operator, but might work on another network."
Optus said it "undertook a detailed assessment of device capabilities" but did not address the discrepancy between its block list and Telstra's.
According to ACCAN research, approximately 19 per cent of people reported needing to upgrade their device because of the 3G shutdown.
Regulator leaving it to the telcos
Former telecommunications consultant Ian Smith's phone was one of those affected.
As an Uber driver in the NSW Northern Rivers, he uses a dual SIM to deal with the patchy reception across the various mobile networks.
When the 3G network was shut down in November, his Telstra SIM was suddenly restricted from accessing the network, even though it supports 4G. Meanwhile, his Optus one remained unaffected.
To clear up the inconsistency between networks, Mr Smith visited four separate Telstra stores, which he says confirmed his smartphone was still able to make emergency calls.
Despite this, Telstra would not unblock it.
When he appealed to ACMA, Mr Smith was told it was "unable to compel Telstra to whitelist [his] phone".
"This is a matter for the telcos to determine," an ACMA employee wrote to Mr Smith in an email. "They have the best knowledge of their own networks."
With the lack of Telstra connectivity interfering with his work as an Uber driver, Mr Smith was eventually forced to buy a new device.
He says that Telstra has "abused" the power granted to it under the new direction, and displayed "anti-competitive behaviour" by blocking his phone despite it being capable of making emergency calls.
Potential conflict of interest
The CEO of the Australian Communications Consumer Action Network (ACCAN), Carol Bennett, said ACMA needs to be watching the directive "closely and in real-time".
"There must be regulatory scrutiny about this directive," she told the ABC.
"It allows telcos to identify which devices to block while standing to benefit from selling new phones — a clear conflict of interest risk."
An ACMA spokesperson said "some risks could not be addressed within the terms of the direction" from the minister.
"Those terms reflected the government's concerns that there was an unacceptable risk that people's lives could be put in danger if they could not access triple-0 after the shutting down of Australia's 3G networks," the spokesperson said in a statement.
"The ACMA has been in constant contact with telcos to monitor compliance with these new obligations and respond to and resolve customer issues as they arise.
"Together with the comprehensive data that we receive from telcos on the impact of the amendments, we will be in a position to provide advice to the Minister for Communications on our view of the effectiveness of the amendments."
The government — which created the phone blocking directive — did not comment on its enforcement by the regulator, or its failure to collect the data from telcos it had outlined in its impact analysis.
"The Australian government's top priority in the 3G switch off has been to protect public safety by ensuring that all mobile phones connected to mobile networks are able to call triple-0," a governmental spokesperson said.
Data scraping methodology
- The ABC downloaded each of the data files from the Optus checking tool.
- For each of the TAC codes in those files, we made a request to Telstra's checking tool.
- We then compared the blocked vs non-blocked status for each one.
Credits
- Reporting: Julian Fell
- Visual design: Georgina Piper
The full statements from the ACMA, Telstra, Optus and the government can be accessed .
