RESIDENTS in high bushfire risk areas would have mobile phone coverage for at least 24 hours if power is lost under new legislation introduced to parliament.
Nick Xenophon Team Member for Mayo Rebekha Sharkie introduced the Private Member’s Bill compelling telecommunications carriers to provide 24-hour standby power in key mobile base stations operating in high risk bushfire areas.
The Telecommunications Amendment (Guaranteeing Mobile Phone Service in Bushfire Zones) Bill would make the Australian Communications and Media Authority responsible for determining and enforcing regulations.
Ms Sharkie said despite modern technological advances, regional communities were more vulnerable to the threat of bushfires.
“More emergency alerts are being pushed out on mobile platforms and more people are using mobile phones to make informed decisions and emergency calls and yet nothing is being done to guarantee this technology can be relied on at critical times,” she said.
“Now with the introduction of the National Broadband Network, particularly fibre to the node technology, your landline isn’t guaranteed to work and neither is the internet.
“The battery life in local mobile phone towers is four hours if they are lucky and the battery life in local telephone exchanges doesn’t last long either.
“The least we can expect is these carriers will invest in technology to make sure the towers work during the first 24 hours of a major incident or a catastrophic fire day when power is often cut as a precaution.”
