ACCC Review Could Force Telstra To Open Its Mobile Network

The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) has launched a 12-month inquiry into the mobile services market, including whether Telstra and other carriers should be required to provide rivals with regulated access to their networks.

Mandatory domestic roaming will be a key focus of the review, which will examine mobile coverage, competition, consumer choice and network reliability, particularly in regional and remote Australia.

The inquiry comes less than a month after it was revealed Telstra ignored a six-month warning to replace or update critical network timing hardware before a national outage blocked more than 600 Triple Zero calls.

The July 8 network failure disrupted mobile services, payment systems and train networks across NSW and Victoria, prompting a Senate inquiry and renewed scrutiny of Telstra’s network.

The ACCC review could ultimately lead to mobile access services being declared, allowing customers outside their provider’s coverage area to connect to another carrier’s network.

ACCC commissioner Anna Brakey said rapid changes in telecommunications technology, including the emergence of low Earth orbit satellite-to-mobile services, made it an appropriate time to reconsider the market.

The regulator has not decided whether domestic roaming should be introduced and said any intervention would need to deliver long-term benefits for consumers.

Telstra reiterated its opposition to mandated roaming, arguing it could weaken investment incentives, increase network congestion and reduce reliability, particularly in regional areas.

TPG Telecom, which owns Vodafone, welcomed the inquiry and said it could deliver broader coverage, stronger competition and greater choice for customers outside metropolitan areas.

The review follows the ACCC’s July decision not to take enforcement action against Telstra over a 2025 complaint from TPG concerning the telco’s mobile coverage claims.

That complaint was closed after a new Australian Communications and Media Authority mapping standard forced Telstra to remove about one million square kilometres of claimed coverage from its maps.

The ACCC said technical and evidentiary challenges had prevented it from establishing that Telstra’s earlier claims were false or misleading, but warned it remained concerned about patchy services and inaccurate coverage representations.

The regulator previously examined mandatory domestic roaming in 2016 and decided against introducing it, finding it could discourage network investment without necessarily lowering prices or improving regional coverage.

Consumer group ACCAN has called for faster action, arguing Parliament already has a pathway to introduce roaming without waiting for the year-long inquiry to conclude.