Optus outage inquiry raises mandatory roaming spectre

The Australian Senate's proposal to expand roaming beyond emergencies risks eroding mobile network investment.

David Kennedy · Venture Insights4 October 2024Period: October 20244 min read

2023→

Year of the Optus network outage that triggered the Senate inquiry

3→

Number of Australian MNOs whose investment incentives are at risk

Locked

Companies covered:

Abstract

This report analyses the Australian Senate inquiry's recommendations following the 2023 Optus network outage, specifically the proposal for mandatory mobile roaming during large-scale failures. While the ACCC previously found temporary roaming technically feasible for emergencies, the Senate Committee's new proposal extends this to non-emergency loss of service. This shift threatens the commercial differentiation derived from infrastructure investment and could lead to a 'creeping expansion' of roaming requirements that undermines the incentives for MNOs to expand regional coverage.

Key Takeaways

The Senate inquiry into the 2023 Optus outage recommends examining large-scale network roaming and mutual assistance for major outages.
Policy is shifting from 'emergency-only' roaming (natural disasters) to roaming for general network failures and loss of service.
The ACCC confirmed in 2023 that temporary roaming is technically feasible but carries significant risks of network congestion.

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Frequently Asked Questions

The 2023 Optus network outage prompted a Senate inquiry that recommends expanding roaming beyond the 2019-20 bushfire emergency framework. This proposal moves the regulatory focus from natural disasters to general network failures and loss of service.

The ACCC confirmed in 2023 that temporary roaming is technically feasible for the 3 Australian MNOs. However, the regulator warned that such a move carries significant risks of network congestion during large-scale failures.

Mandatory roaming threatens to undermine the infrastructure-based competition that has historically driven regional coverage expansion. If implemented, the 3 MNOs lose the commercial differentiation that justified proprietary investment following the 2022 regional inquiry.

State Government agencies and regional interest groups are actively lobbying for mandatory roaming to address patchy coverage. This pressure has intensified since the 2023 outage, pushing for a regime that covers non-emergency service losses.

Optus outage inquiry raises mandatory roaming spectre

Abstract

Key Takeaways

Frequently Asked Questions

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