1
00:00:00,200 --> 00:00:02,679
Speaker 1: The remaining three G networks are going to be switched

2
00:00:02,720 --> 00:00:06,680
Speaker 1: off on Monday, impacting millions of devices across the country.

3
00:00:06,840 --> 00:00:10,680
Speaker 1: The shutdown started last year. We've votified the first telco

4
00:00:10,880 --> 00:00:14,720
Speaker 1: to cease three G services, and Telstra and Optus extending

5
00:00:14,760 --> 00:00:19,640
Speaker 1: their shutdown until October twenty eight. Now. It was aimed

6
00:00:19,640 --> 00:00:23,479
Speaker 1: at giving people time to update their devices, but from

7
00:00:23,520 --> 00:00:28,240
Speaker 1: Monday onwards, three G devices and some four G mobiles

8
00:00:28,280 --> 00:00:31,240
Speaker 1: that default to three G for emergency calls are no

9
00:00:31,320 --> 00:00:33,720
Speaker 1: longer going to work. Now. Joining us on the line

10
00:00:33,720 --> 00:00:35,639
Speaker 1: to tell us a little bit more about the situation

11
00:00:35,800 --> 00:00:40,840
Speaker 1: is Telstra's regional engagement manager Ryan Betten's good morning to you, Ryan.

12
00:00:41,560 --> 00:00:42,480
Speaker 2: Thanks for having me on.

13
00:00:42,600 --> 00:00:45,560
Speaker 1: Yeah, lovely to speak to you now, Ryan, NT customers,

14
00:00:45,600 --> 00:00:48,120
Speaker 1: do you think they're prepared for three G to be

15
00:00:48,280 --> 00:00:48,960
Speaker 1: switched off?

16
00:00:50,640 --> 00:00:52,680
Speaker 2: To be honest, I think that a large a portion

17
00:00:52,720 --> 00:00:56,240
Speaker 2: of our customers nationally are very prepared for it. We're

18
00:00:56,280 --> 00:00:59,560
Speaker 2: actually seeing less than one percent of overall mobile traffic

19
00:01:00,240 --> 00:01:01,720
Speaker 2: running on three G at the moment.

20
00:01:01,960 --> 00:01:05,480
Speaker 1: Yeah, right, So hopefully most people sort of understand what's

21
00:01:05,520 --> 00:01:07,400
Speaker 1: going to go on and it's not going to have

22
00:01:07,440 --> 00:01:08,720
Speaker 1: a big impact.

23
00:01:09,360 --> 00:01:11,880
Speaker 2: Yeah, it shouldn't have too much of an impact. I mean,

24
00:01:11,920 --> 00:01:15,760
Speaker 2: we have sent out over four million emails, SMSs and

25
00:01:15,800 --> 00:01:22,319
Speaker 2: direct mail to impacted customers this year alone, and we

26
00:01:22,400 --> 00:01:27,200
Speaker 2: have set up a toll on SMS platform so that

27
00:01:27,280 --> 00:01:30,400
Speaker 2: any customer that has a handset that they're concerned about

28
00:01:30,560 --> 00:01:34,600
Speaker 2: can SMS the number three to three four nine eight

29
00:01:35,040 --> 00:01:38,160
Speaker 2: and they'll actually get a response via SMS to tell

30
00:01:38,200 --> 00:01:40,280
Speaker 2: them whether their handset's going to be impacted or not.

31
00:01:40,640 --> 00:01:44,720
Speaker 1: So if they message the number three to three four

32
00:01:45,040 --> 00:01:49,360
Speaker 1: nine eight, they'll be able to get that detail. That's

33
00:01:49,360 --> 00:01:51,000
Speaker 1: a good I mean, that's a good step for people

34
00:01:51,040 --> 00:01:54,280
Speaker 1: to be able to take if they are concerned. What

35
00:01:54,360 --> 00:01:58,240
Speaker 1: kind of devices like are we expecting to potentially be impacted?

36
00:01:58,320 --> 00:02:00,480
Speaker 1: Is it a situation where it's more so things like

37
00:02:00,520 --> 00:02:02,440
Speaker 1: maybe your w Apple watch if it's a bit older,

38
00:02:02,960 --> 00:02:05,240
Speaker 1: or things like your f POS machine.

39
00:02:06,040 --> 00:02:09,960
Speaker 2: Yeah. Look, it's a vast range of products. So it's handsets,

40
00:02:10,720 --> 00:02:16,160
Speaker 2: smart watches, have post terminals, obole tablet devices, fire alarms

41
00:02:16,160 --> 00:02:21,480
Speaker 2: and security alarms. Some people have some medical pendance that

42
00:02:21,840 --> 00:02:23,680
Speaker 2: you used to run on the three G network as well,

43
00:02:23,760 --> 00:02:27,280
Speaker 2: So it's devices such as those that could be actually impacted.

44
00:02:27,800 --> 00:02:30,080
Speaker 1: What happens as well I mean, what would happen. So,

45
00:02:30,160 --> 00:02:32,000
Speaker 1: if you're in a situation where you're not one hundred

46
00:02:32,000 --> 00:02:34,959
Speaker 1: percent sure whether your device is going to be impacted

47
00:02:35,040 --> 00:02:37,639
Speaker 1: or whether that piece of equipment's going to be impacted

48
00:02:37,680 --> 00:02:40,160
Speaker 1: come Monday, if it's not working, is there a way

49
00:02:40,200 --> 00:02:42,440
Speaker 1: that you can still sort of do it upgrade afterwards.

50
00:02:43,680 --> 00:02:46,560
Speaker 2: Yeah, Look, you could definitely upgrade at any particular time.

51
00:02:47,080 --> 00:02:51,240
Speaker 2: We strongly recommend to test your hardware beforehand. So if

52
00:02:51,240 --> 00:02:54,280
Speaker 2: it's an if it's a handset, text that number. If

53
00:02:54,320 --> 00:02:56,840
Speaker 2: it's another, if it's another sort of device and you

54
00:02:57,120 --> 00:02:59,520
Speaker 2: are concerned about it, by all means, please do make

55
00:02:59,520 --> 00:03:03,560
Speaker 2: contact thus VIR one three two zero number, or pop

56
00:03:03,560 --> 00:03:05,400
Speaker 2: into a torture shop and we can actually try and

57
00:03:05,440 --> 00:03:07,799
Speaker 2: assess that actual device itself to make sure that it's

58
00:03:07,840 --> 00:03:08,800
Speaker 2: not going to be impacted.

59
00:03:09,240 --> 00:03:11,640
Speaker 1: What about when it comes to four G phones that

60
00:03:11,800 --> 00:03:14,720
Speaker 1: rely on three G for calling triple zero.

61
00:03:15,919 --> 00:03:18,520
Speaker 2: Yeah, that's why I'm suggesting that any customer that has

62
00:03:18,560 --> 00:03:21,320
Speaker 2: a handset, whether it's three G or four G, does

63
00:03:21,400 --> 00:03:23,760
Speaker 2: text that number because it will pick up. Whether it's

64
00:03:23,840 --> 00:03:26,000
Speaker 2: if it's a four G handset that's going to not

65
00:03:26,040 --> 00:03:28,600
Speaker 2: be able to call emergency services, it will pick that

66
00:03:28,720 --> 00:03:30,320
Speaker 2: up and tell you that your handset is not going

67
00:03:30,360 --> 00:03:33,239
Speaker 2: to be compatible, so you will need to upgrade that device.

68
00:03:33,040 --> 00:03:35,320
Speaker 1: All right. But so by the sounds of it, realistically,

69
00:03:35,320 --> 00:03:37,560
Speaker 1: the best thing to do if you're concerned is just

70
00:03:37,680 --> 00:03:40,360
Speaker 1: text three two three four nine eight and you'll be

71
00:03:40,360 --> 00:03:45,120
Speaker 1: able to get some assistance. What steps have been taken

72
00:03:45,160 --> 00:03:47,200
Speaker 1: I mean you touched on this just a moment ago,

73
00:03:47,240 --> 00:03:49,840
Speaker 1: but what steps have been taken by Telstra to ensure

74
00:03:49,840 --> 00:03:53,000
Speaker 1: that there is adequate coverage as well in more rural

75
00:03:53,080 --> 00:03:54,520
Speaker 1: and remote areas.

76
00:03:55,480 --> 00:03:58,200
Speaker 2: Yeah, so we have gone through and we've done a

77
00:03:58,240 --> 00:04:03,080
Speaker 2: whole human mapping around coverage, and it's to make sure

78
00:04:03,080 --> 00:04:06,120
Speaker 2: that we do have the capacity to be able to

79
00:04:06,440 --> 00:04:09,360
Speaker 2: produce the coverage that we've already gotten. So that has

80
00:04:09,400 --> 00:04:12,760
Speaker 2: been done over quite some time. And as I said,

81
00:04:12,800 --> 00:04:15,840
Speaker 2: we have sent out four million emails, SMSs and direct

82
00:04:15,880 --> 00:04:18,560
Speaker 2: mails just this year alone. On top of that, we've

83
00:04:18,560 --> 00:04:23,080
Speaker 2: already had over seven hundred and forty thousand people use

84
00:04:23,440 --> 00:04:27,680
Speaker 2: that SMS tool, which is returned roughly around twenty four

85
00:04:27,680 --> 00:04:30,599
Speaker 2: thousand devices that need to be upgraded, and they have

86
00:04:30,680 --> 00:04:31,760
Speaker 2: gone and upgraded them.

87
00:04:32,480 --> 00:04:35,479
Speaker 1: Ryan, any other advice you've got for territories this morning?

88
00:04:35,480 --> 00:04:38,440
Speaker 1: If they are worried about that switch off that's happening

89
00:04:38,520 --> 00:04:40,320
Speaker 1: on Monday.

90
00:04:40,480 --> 00:04:42,719
Speaker 2: Look as I said, if you do have a concern,

91
00:04:42,960 --> 00:04:45,920
Speaker 2: please reach out to Telstrum via our customer service team

92
00:04:46,080 --> 00:04:48,960
Speaker 2: or pop into the store and apart from that, definitely

93
00:04:49,000 --> 00:04:52,000
Speaker 2: send that SMS through the hands. It's a very very

94
00:04:52,000 --> 00:04:55,160
Speaker 2: simple process and you get a response within a minute.

95
00:04:55,520 --> 00:04:59,240
Speaker 1: Well. Telstra Regional Engagement Manager Ryan Bichens, thanks so much

96
00:04:59,279 --> 00:05:00,320
Speaker 1: for your time this week morning.

97
00:05:00,920 --> 00:05:02,039
Speaker 2: You're welcome, Thanks for having me on.

98
00:05:02,120 --> 00:05:02,480
Speaker 1: Thank you