Telcos Activate Temporary Disaster Roaming Agreement for Mobile Coverage

Australia's major telcos are set to activate a temporary disaster roaming agreement, providing mobile coverage to customers in regional areas affected by severe weather.

The system, known as temporary disaster roaming (TDR), will allow customers to access a rival network if their own goes down during a weather emergency.

How it works

Telstra, Optus, and TPG will work together to decide when to activate TDR in regional areas where a mobile service has been disrupted. According to Luke Coleman, chief executive of Australian Telecommunications Alliance, "You'll continue to be able to make phone calls, send text messages, and you'll have limited capacity data services."

Coleman added that while users can't expect to have their full usual high-speed data, they "will still have enough data to send a WhatsApp or an iMessage, maybe even to check an emergency service website like Fires Near Me, for example."

Limitations and rollout

TDR will only work if another network is available in the affected area, meaning it won't be available in areas served by only one provider. The service will be available only outside major cities and will be implemented in up to three different disaster areas at any one time.

Regional Independent MP Helen Haines has long been advocating for such a service, describing it as a "game changer." She said, "When disaster knocks in regional communities and pulls out a mobile network, people shouldn't have to wait for their own provider to restore that service before they can reconnect."

Haines added that access to mobile services during disasters is "existential" in regional communities.

Accountability and future developments

Coleman said the telcos are best placed to be the custodians of the initiative, as they "have full visibility of the network's capacity" and can ensure the "surviving network continues to operate."

A statement from a ministerial spokesperson said the government will continue to engage closely with industry to make sure TDR is working as intended to keep communities safer.