Verrall, Robyn - Public Submission RTIRC 2015

Regional Telecommunications Independent Review

Q1. Do people in regional Australia believe their reliance on telecommunications differs from those in urban areas? How does it differ and can you provide examples:

People in Regional Australia do have different reliance’s on telecommunications than urban areas in that regional people uses, needs and expectations are due to distance, neighbours are not within walking distances i.e. like towns or cities, the closest neighbour may be 5 to 25+km away. Most of the homes have a CFS (Country Fire Service) volunteer on site and during times of emergencies the phone is the only one to contact each other – mainly land line. The reception is poor for mobiles and pagers so contacting people is only by land lines, whereas urban people can work and live without landlines and rely on text, regional people can’t.

People in Regional areas due to distance need to be able to rely on their telecommunications services. We need to be able to contact emergency services due to the threat of fire and partners that are CFS Volunteer services, so we can keep ahead of the fire fronts and other natural disasters. Living on a property where there is only the tow of you having good services can sometimes warn of immediate dangers and or the urgency of getting assistance when required. The distance from the closest neighbour or in these times – neighbours can work off farm and or be absentee landowners so there is no one within a walking distance to render assistance if required.

Q2. For those users already connected to an nbn network service, has the service met your expectations?

It has not met our expectations, the satellite internet service is slow, the strength can waiver depending upon the weather conditions, and if it’s windy the service may drop. To have it on a router means we are limited to where we can use it, the strength is so poor it cannot be used more than 2 metres from the base. It is an expensive service for the restrictions and limitations placed upon the consumer and should anything go wrong with the service, there is very poor customer service and back up support.

The NBN Fair Use policy has come into effect within the last 3 months, with an admission on radio by a provider it is only the regional customers who are affected. This means that people who require it can no longer even sign up for the service, as the providers were given Government subsidies to sign clients up without the reduction in the cost – we had 50GB at $54.95 per month and we now have 20GB at $49.95 per month does this mean the providers are still getting the subsidies and not passing this on to the clients,

The NBN co satellite internet was sold as being equal to or better than ADSL and it is far from this service, the reduction has made it like the old dial up speeds and now the provider is telling us that if we go over the allocated amount of GB per month the service will be cut off, unlike the city where you can ring up and increase your service regional and rural people will be completely cut for till the next billing period.

Running a business and having up to date websites is important to regional people, also many companies now encourage you to buy on line and to view product on websites. This makes business difficult as internet speeds preclude many from being able to even view a website. The content of many including you-tube videos which are important visual aids from the comfort of the computer may not even be able to be downloaded thus preventing people from seeing to viewing the product and stop the purchase or for regional people having to make numerous calls about a product that may not suit your needs because you can’t view it working.

Our export business website is currently parked as I cannot get enough download speed to up load it. I have to go back to the developer and have some of the content i.e. picture and YouTube removed in order to get it uploaded. I could also travel over 100kms to get it up loaded but will not be able to view our own companies website, so until we get better services, it will remained parked thus as a necessary tool of trade (these days) it will stop business growth.

With the launch last week in Adelaide of the Rural Connect website by the Government and Primary Producers SA as a “one stop shop” site for this and 3 other websites it cannot be accessed due to the high levels of content. I also noted it was launched in the city rather than regionally as they would not have been able to do a website demonstration at the satellite speeds offered to the consumer.

Q3. Having regard to the technical solution likely to be used in our area, do you have views on the adequacy of that solution in terms of meeting needs now and into the future?

In order to meet the needs of any regional business then the investment has to be in mobile towers, and towers for internet services. There is not adequate planning and infrastructure by the government to support regional services. Most of the money allocated for telecommunications services starts and end in cities and urban areas. Most farmers would give up land and help supply maintenance work to infrastructure if the Government was willing to co-support it, but there never appears to be maintenance reviews or spending.

I have doubts on the plan for the NBN Co or Government to adequately assist regional and rural areas whilst they continue to fight amongst the parties and lay blame to each other for lack of infrastructure growth and forward planning. Most Governments consider their needs of their constituents in their own seats before looking to the broader community needs.

The future needs can’t be contemplated whilst the current needs are not being met. There is no department or board or Government that will assist regional and rural people to have providers adequately meet the needs of users, they have allowed and enforced the NBN Co to reduce usage of satellite internet services and in SA have refused to commit $1 dollar to the Telecommunications black spot program so that areas which have been identified as having urgent and great needs do not get them, these areas can now re-apply for stage 2 – which has not got a date nor paper as they will only start these towers in 2016, this means areas such as ours will be 3 to 6 years without Government support and adequate services

Q4. Irrespective of the adequacy of your local access, are there issues with backhaul or long distance carriage that impacts on your use of telecommunications services?

Located in the Upper South East of South Australia, we have no internet or mobile phone access, on property or when leaving the property. Travelling to and from the city there are glaring black spots for mobile coverage. From our location in McCallum it is 30km towards the West, 36kms towards the east and63km to the south before we get coverage, there is no coverage to the north as this is Ngarkat the national Park. We cannot communicate with each other from the farm house to the paddock unless we use a UHF radio, there is very little mobile spots on hills on the property that can receive signal the farm ute has a car kit and this gives greater reception but it is still location dependant.

Q5. For users living in areas without mobile coverage, what priorities, other than specific locations do you consider should be recognised in future efforts to improve coverage?

From our experience I think it is important that road routes for transportation of goods and stock should have coverage. This is important to track location of trucks for emergency services, assist with truck and car breakdowns so that even the traveller can be assured they can contact someone should they require assistance. By making more locations mobile friendly would also bring tourist and the important corporate dollar by being able to offer onsite and on road usage of tools of communications which assists businesses.

Q6. What opportunities do the mobile network industry see for extending coverage in regional Australia and increasing investment in mobile networks?

Increasing and extending coverage for mobile networks in regional areas will provide a safety net for trucks and travellers along these routes. It will also provide children of farming families to be more up to speed for educational purposes. It will provide families with greater access to the internet and even allow children who travel long distances to and from school and sport to be engaged with tools such as iPad and smartphones to commence homework or projects whilst they travel. If coverage is greater it becomes more accessible and stops the ‘peaks and slowdowns of an over loaded’ services.

By increasing the investment in mobile networks will increase revenue for not only regional towns and businesses but by the networks that support the areas by having infrastructure investment.

Q7.Do you have any views on co-investment approaches that might help to improve the broadband technology outcome in your area?

I think public / private / Government partnerships work successfully and most areas would welcome a working party and opportunity to increase the broadband technology as long as there is a maintenance and upgrade plan supported in dollar terms by all partners and not have the Government refuse to continue assisting with the spend, one off grants don’t work as historically Governments walk away and leave the increasing costs to the consumer.

Offering the opportunity to have co-investment would only work if there was full and frank disclosure by the Government, they are historically known to start these projects, get them up and running then walk away from any financial commitment, service contract and repair financing. In order to be good corporate citizens they need to out-line the policies and procedures from the get go, not turn around in 1 year, 3 years or more and state the maintenance is up to the private partners or co-investors, especially in the fact there are now a lot of non-residential occupiers of land. We are surrounded by 2 different businesses (onion growers) the national park who haven’t even fixed the fencing from the fires due to lack of State Government funding. There is also the need to have written into these agreements changes to % of maintenance or repairs dollars due to farmers retiring and selling out. There is also the need to provide fencing protection for these pieces of equipment as any grazier knows cattle and sheep, are curious animals and as such will chew and eat things that are new to their environment. They will chew anything so working closely with the provider, developer and land owner to get the right area, space and infrastructure is important from the get go.

Q8. How might new applications and services that utilise mobile networks for voice and data transform the way you live and work?

It would totally transform the way we work, from being able to apply new technology to our farming practices, such as use drones for watering points and dams in summer, check on birthing of animals without having to pull up in a Ute and get binoculars out. It would also allow more communications with neighbours and farmers in the area that are doing the same thing i.e. cropping, weather conditions for cropping and animal husbandry.

Being able to use websites effectively and the use of skype will reduce the costs and increase exposure to the business without extreme costs. It will make all farms equal across the country and become more efficient and competitive in being able to find new markets and customers which in turn will bring new employment opportunities to the regions and on farms. This in turn will boost regional towns and cities by being able to offer employees the same communications services that attract people to the cities.

Q9. What communications barriers have you experienced in expanding or operating your business or providing services, such as health or education? Have you been able to overcome these barriers and if so how?

In expanding our business the first point of call for all incoming buyers is a professional informative website. We have one created and have had to park it so now we do not have an on line presence. We could reduce the graphic content and it looks very unprofessional due to the limitation of Satellite internet. Even if we upload in the city we can’t access the full site to edit it so it cannot be uploaded until we get better services.

Working and living on a property due to the cost of landline rental most properties only register their home phone number as a residential number rather than a business so when services go out – like a land line, and Telstra will not come and fix it for days on end, it limits how you promote the business. Changing the land line to a business phone, as told to me by Telstra last month will ensure a quicker service.

Mobile reception is shocking and we are unable to answer phones without a car kit, all new models do not come with a car kit as most new cars have inbuilt Bluetooth. This does not assist people who do not upgrade their vehicles until necessary and most new phones do not have car kits anymore.

Running without a website is not ideal but at this stage is a necessity, so I have created business emails and cards that can be given to people with both the business and personal email address on so that we can be contacted.

Education: Applying to do courses on line is difficult but necessary – webinars are hit and miss and having video conferencing means we have to travel 52kms to the closest town and either do it in the car or find a friends place where you can get some privacy. Downloading large documents required to do online study, I have placed these on USBs from the point of origin – I am currently studying at TAFESA and then work through the USB so as not to download large files which then use up our data allowance. I will also travel 300+km’s and pay the expense of staying over in a motel in order to attend lectures and practicals as per the course requirements. Having such restrictions placed on regional people means most people will not study or keep up with educational requirements. If I know I have a big file to come down I will park it until I am next in town, so we purchased a small note book so that it travels with me everywhere we go, to keep us up to date with the business and our educational requirements.

We do not download apps as this takes up a lot of gig and is a waste of smartphones as these apps can only be accessed if the signal is good. I would love to have an app created for our business but no point if I cannot download and manage it. Even having a YouTube channel for our business has been difficult and now with the decrease in GB we will have to park it as well. We can only promote through brochures which are expensive to produce and post but we need to keep brand recognition going so that our business grows and we can pay employees.

Q10. What communication functions (e.g. speed, mobility, reliability, data, etc.) would best suit your needs, noting the limitations of each technology (e.g. mobile, wireless, satellite, fibre)?

Living regionally requires many things in order to work, recreational and educational requires met, there needs to be consideration for work health and safety first and foremost. Many people travel for work even on major highways throughout South Australia, there are many black spots for mobile reception and this needs to be addressed by State and Federal Governments as a matter of Urgency.

Even during our large fire in 2014 where Ngarkat the National Park in the South East was on fire (it borders our property) we could not even get ”emergency service only” on mobiles whilst driving through paddocks moving stock so they wouldn’t burn. Also trying to call Emergency Services the calls went unanswered as our area was deemed contained despite the fact we were having flare ups and constant lightning strikes that were starting fire.

Mobile towers should be prioritised by greatest needs relative to location so that those that have nothing can work and produce safely and competently without having to drive over 60kms to get help.

Satellite internet really is the only option in rural areas, I think putting down cable will be too costly to replace if burnt, dug up when cropping or become weather worn as is our current landline. Mind you when we have power outages during summer, our last one were for 47 hours, we lose internet and mobile and have to rely on our battery operated landline or internal UHF radio to stay in-contact with the workers on the farm and or emergency services.

A mobile tower and Wireless internet would be great for areas that in black spots and are remote by distance to townships. This would provide safer avenues for others who travel distances for work and for tourism. As primary producers we would even allow a tower to be built on the property so as it is available to all people in the area, even those that camp within the park, so that if they need assistance they can call rather than walk or send a car out to find the nearest farmhouse to get help.

Q11. Do we need to continue to guarantee the standard telephone service for all (or only for some) consumers, and if so, to what extent?

I think it is a necessity to guarantee a standard telephone service for all those who request it. By guaranteeing the service one needs to also consider maintenance and repairs to lines and houses. There is no point guaranteeing that the phone line will stay of there is not a scheduled maintenance schedule to keep the system functional and current.

Historically one the systems go in there is absolutely no thought in maintenance and when they need to be repaired they are costly and unworkable. There is also the distance telecommunications people have to travel in order to repair it. The current system does not work, you ring and report a fault, the customer services centre acknowledges the report, and they check the line and then inform you they will allocate the job. I tell them all we live in a fire zone and remote so transferring our line to mobile is useless but it is done regardless. We are then promised a satellite phone and most times given a delivery date due to the fact they can never fix the line within 3 to 5 business days.

This phone has NEVER arrived, even without the line for 6 weeks during our fire, despite the numerous calls and promises Telstra NEVER delivered one. I would rather have these people understand the rules and regulations as well as be honest. According to Telstra they have to apply for funding and they cannot issue the service man the job until that funding has been approved. I can’t see how this system is fair and equal; if I lived in the city it is less than 2 days to have your landline repaired but regionally due to safety, education and work place proximity to the property there needs to be a more refined service.

A funding model and a business model to support these services is vital to regional and rural areas, unemployment is greater in the country and some people do not have mobiles or run them on pre- paid so when they have run out of money they can use the landline without exorbitant costs.

Q12. Are there new or other services, the availability of which should be underpinned by consumer safeguards?

None that I am aware of, but all new services should be guaranteed, have a regular and supported service centre, customer service accessible by landline, internet and mobile. If there is deregulation to sell the equipment there should be the opportunity for the consumer to have a written contact which includes regular maintenance and repair schedules.

Satellite internet should never have been allowed to be so over-subscribed and my complaint is that the providers are given a monetary subsidy to sign up customers and clients, without restrictions placed on them by the NBN Co, also the fact that the NBN Co wants to spend $12,000 to drop the Co from the title, should not be allowed. Now that they have decreased the GB per client are they under obligation to return the subsidy?

Also with the launch of the new satellites (scheduled for September) as current users, how do they determine who gets first preference to join? Will we be given the option of business first, or if you are a registered Educational service provider, health care provider or will it be identified by remoteness to towns and cities.

The NBN Co and government and providers need to stop telling all of their customers and clients that the problem will be fixed by the launch of these satellites ready for some time next year, as they will not be able to guarantee the service to all current users never alone new ones, as they are not allowed to sign up any more clients.

There also needs to be a health check on providers so that they are not able to completely cut clients off from using the internet once they have used up their GB for the month, there is nothing in original contracts that stops this practice. There also should be a commitment to train or update the training requirements of installers and repairers so that once one retires or moves from the district the lag time for replacement doesn’t mean people are left without services until one can be found.

Q13. What standards should apply to your services? How might they be enforced?

A hard question to answer, as the Federal Government want input by the State Government and in the case of South Australia, the state Government have made no future proofing plans for communication networks and their stance is that it is left to the Federal Government to facilitate and build upon.

Should the original Communications papers come out for the black spot areas for mobile towers if the Government was honest and state they are looking for PPP this would then give companies and properties to become aware that the opportunity to have a tower in your area means financial input from surrounding districts this would then allow them to make a formed decision and work with Governments to make these things viable for areas.

This should be unpinned with commitments from telecommunications companies, providers and governments to remain engaged with end users and stakeholders to maintain the towers and services in conjunction with the PPP.

Having regular and scheduled maintenance of land lines and towers is a commitment that should be enforced so that problems other than natural forces, unseen incidents can be covered without the expense of calling everything an “Emergency Call out” and going to large expense to repair what may have been identified by routine inspection. With our phone lined going out for 9 days and the service technician coming to tell us he had fixed it within 30 minutes, I asked him what was wrong and he said lack of maintenance and upgrading to the Telstra junction, our telephone line was put in the ground in the 1960’s and there has not been an upgrade since, so to enforce anything is not practical, in fact it would be next to impossible with the lack of foresight and knee jerk reactions telecommunications services have. If it’s not broken it can’t and won’t be fixed, if it does break it will take days and approved funding to repair it. Even the telecommunications ombudsman cannot help in these situations as they are governed to assist rather than to be a policing body for rural and regional people. Their power is in the fact they statistically record complaints and data and will refer the complaint to the body but they have no powers to render assistance. Telstra are so aware the system is broken they now have ‘compensation’ rules about times limits to fix problems and do not care nor adhere to any form of structure or timetable unless they have departmental approval and financing. This has become worse since the customer service was out sourced to English as second language employees.