Telstra is on track to lose about 1 million square kilometres of claimed mobile coverage – an area larger than NSW – under a proposed regulatory standard that would force carriers to show only areas where a normal smartphone can reliably make a call.
The Australian Communications and Media Authority’s (ACMA) proposed Mobile Network Coverage Maps Standard 2026 would impose uniform signal-strength thresholds across the industry, replacing a system in which each telco has effectively been allowed to define “coverage” on its own terms.
TPG Telecom, Optus and peak consumer body the Australian Communications Consumer Action Network have backed the regulator’s baseline, leaving Telstra alone in fighting for a weaker threshold that would preserve its larger coverage footprint.
“The ACMA says coverage should mean your phone works,” a TPG Telecom spokesman said. “Telstra wants coverage to mean your phone might sometimes show a bar but probably can’t make a call.
“Only Telstra is fighting against this proposal for accurate maps because it exposes how much of its advertised coverage people can’t actually use. People rely on coverage maps because they assume they can call for help; that’s why accuracy matters.”
TPG Telecom’s submission to the ACMA included the results of independent drive testing across more than 20 regional Queensland locations where Telstra’s maps showed “full coverage”. Using modern smartphones outdoors, engineers could not make a basic phone call at almost all of the test location sites. At some locations, phones registered a Telstra signal but couldn’t connect a voice call. At others, no signal was detected at all.
TPG’s analysis of data Telstra submits annually to the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) found Telstra’s actual outdoor handheld coverage – what a regular smartphone can access – sits at about 2.17 million square kilometres, about 1 million square kilometres less than the figure Telstra has long used in marketing. In December 2025, Telstra rebranded what had been labelled “external antenna” coverage as “full coverage” on its consumer-facing maps.
Carol Bennett, chief executive of the Australian Communications Consumer Action Network, described the drive-test findings as “a consumer protection failure” that illustrated why coverage maps needed reform.
“Coverage maps must not be marketing tools,” Bennett said. “Consumers can plan around areas of weaker coverage, but they cannot plan around over-promises. For people travelling or living in regional areas, accurate information is particularly important for safety and emergency planning.”
She added that Telstra’s claim to cover 99.6 per cent of the population played a major role in consumer choice, despite the experience of many regional Australians differing “starkly from the advertised figures”.
Optus’ submission said that maps based on weaker signal levels would “inadvertently over-represent reliable, useable coverage” to consumers.
In its submission, Telstra conceded the proposed baseline of 115 decibel-milliwatts – the unit used to measure the strength of a wireless signal – would strip roughly 1 million square kilometres from its map. It argued this would tell customers they had “no coverage” in areas where phones still worked, citing data showing 1.5 million customers connected monthly and 57,000 emergency calls a year were made in the affected zones.
A Telstra spokesman rejected suggestions the company’s coverage depended on external antennas. “Our customers do not need an external antenna or any other special equipment to access the full 3 million square kilometres of our coverage,” the spokesman said. “This has been validated by third-party drive testing across the country.”
The company warned the standard could discourage future investment, pointing to $12.4 billion spent on its mobile network to the end of FY25, with $4.7 billion in regional areas.
“The incentive for us to continue investing in regional areas, including at the edge of the network, when the comparable map would not represent it, is diminished,” the spokesman said.
“We know some of our competitors are calling for the standard to mislead customers by minimising the vast gap they know exists between their network and ours.”
Telstra said it preferred a single comparable map but warned that if the standard proceeded unchanged, “we may need to find a different way to help our customers understand that this coverage exists, because we know it works”.
The ACMA said it was considering all submissions to finalise the standard, which is due to take effect by June 30.
The ACCC is also continuing a separate investigation into Telstra’s coverage maps and claims. Telstra’s submission noted the ACCC investigation was ongoing but did not address it directly.
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David Swan is the technology editor for The Age and The Sydney Morning Herald. He was previously technology editor for The Australian newspaper.Connect via X or email.