A DEFINING moment of the Isolated Children's Parents' Association (ICPA) Federal Conference was when Daryl Martin, from Kindon, Queensland, stood up to address Telstra chief sustainability officer and executive Justine Rowe.
After assuring listeners of the benefits of switching to 5G, and turning off all 3G services, Ms Rowe opened the floor to questions and statements.
"You're putting all your funds towards developing 5G and this new technology, we would even just love the ability to make a phone call," Mr Martin said.
This was met by a massive round of applause and cheers from ICPA members, who feel the effects of bad phone coverage in everyday life.
Mr Martin said at his local school, the lack of phone coverage had become a safety issue, because if someone became injured at school there was no way for anyone outside to know.
"We don't have adequate coverage around our school now," he said.
"I'm concerned that they are focusing on rolling 5G out before we have adequate coverage as it is."
ICPA president Alana Moller echoed these fears, saying some members were concerned about the impact a switch to 5G would have on already bad phone coverage in remote areas.
"There are concerns from members, and we are certainly monitoring that and we are in touch with Telstra to try and make sure the impact of that is ameliorated," Ms Moller said.
However, Telstra regional general manager Boyd Brown said there was no need to be worried about the transition.
"We'll turn off the 3G signal come 2024, but before we turn it off, we need to have added 4G to the site," Mr Brown said.
"What we've said is, we will have equal to or equivalent mobile coverage through 4G as we do through 3G.
"If it needs any other upgrades through the process that will be done at the same time, and batteries and things like that are done as well, so come mid 2024 there will be a better service on that site than there is today."
People who were concerned about being left behind due to having incompatible devices for 5G have been given plenty of warning, according to Ms Rowe.
"There have been concerns about the 3G and people being left behind," she said.
"We gave a long notice period with the transition plan to try and help mitigate some of those fears, but you can understand it if someone is used to a particular device and they are feeling that they've got what they need through that device and that technology - to take it away can be a bit scary.
"Hence, that's why we wanted to give them enough notice and do it in a gradual way, as we kind of build it out and provide the upgrades."
Mr Brown said people who believed they weren't experiencing the "same type of service" they were five years ago needed to remember that on 4G consumers could download video and stream, which wasn't capable on the 3G network.
"But I say, hang on a sec, you're not using your device like you were five years ago," he said.
"We've all moved ahead and we want more and more and more.
"That's the beauty of the whole plan, is that there is 10 times more capacity, 10 times more speed, you are able to have a million devices per square kilometre connected because of the explosion of internet of things and what's happening, this is us future-proofing the network to be able to handle that traffic."
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