Mayor urges Telstra for immediate action on mobile coverage

Published on 25 February 2025

Mayor of the Goondiwindi Region the Honourable Cr Lawrence Springborg is calling for Telstra to urgently investigate mobile connectivity issues in the Goondiwindi Region. His call for action comes as many residents report worsening service following the closure of the 3G network in October last year, leaving many with unreliable coverage.

“I am calling on Telstra to take immediate action and improve the service for our community," the Mayor said.

Cr Springborg is also urging residents to call Telstra's newly established helpline - 1800 990 853 - to report service disruptions since the 3G network closure.

“The current state of mobile coverage in the Goondiwindi Region is simply unacceptable in 2025,” he said. “With the recent 3G closure, the service for many rural residents has deteriorated with noticeably worse coverage on the roads and highways too. Australians were told that nobody would be worse off after the 3G shutdown – so this is clearly unacceptable.”

Cr Springborg says the impact of connectivity challenges on business and day-to-day life is a major concern – along with the inability to contact vulnerable family members or access essential services in an emergency.

“We need Telstra to take steps now to investigate, restore and improve mobile coverage, and prioritise affected areas for network upgrades,” he said. “I am concerned that senior Telstra executives are in denial about what is happening on the ground.

“In many cases, residents lost service with the 3G closure, and it is simply unacceptable that people should have to revert back to days of pre-mobile coverage - especially considering the world around us is becoming more and more digitally connected.

“Our region sees a huge number of visitors on major highways, who, on long sections of major roads, are unable to receive timely emergency alerts or call for help in the event of an accident, breakdown, or severe weather,” he said.

“Especially in a region prone to flood events, or forestry fires in areas along the Gore in particular - which sees more than 2,200 vehicles every day on average - drivers depend on connectivity to make timely, informed decisions.

“While customers of other providers may also be impacted, virtually all of the complaints we’ve heard are regarding Telstra given that it is the most predominant supplier of mobile services in our region.

“While there may be a very small number of issues that can actually be fixed with customer troubleshooting due to being caused by non-compatible headsets or antenna/aerial issues, the majority of these problems are systemic in nature and only arose since the closure of the 3G network,” he said.

Telstra customers should call 1800 990 853 between 8am to 7pm Monday to Friday AEDT to report issues and service disruptions since the 3G network closure.