Tech
Some major Australian towns still have poor phone reception—it’s threatening public safety
by James Meese, Amber Marshall, Holly Randell-Moon, Jenny Kennedy, Rowan Wilken, The Conversation
Australians rely on their phones and the internet for education, business, socializing and in emergencies. And as Optus’ recent Triple Zero outage highlights, the consequences of a network outage can be fatal.
But the problems go beyond Triple Zero. The latest annual report from the Telecommunications Industry Ombudsman, released earlier this week, shows a spike in complaints about network connection issues compared to last financial year. For example, there was a nearly 70% increase in complaints about “no phone or internet service.” Complaints about “poor mobile coverage” also increased more than 25%.
When it comes to connectivity problems, we often think about remote environments such as inland cattle stations or Indigenous communities in central and far north Australia. Or how language barriers, affordability and age might impact access.
However, across various research projects looking at digital inclusion, we have found a policy blind spot, where populations residing in certain suburban and regional areas have poorer connectivity outcomes than remote areas.
These people experience ongoing problems with network connection despite living in locations that look good on paper. This could be because of local infrastructure gaps or compounding social factors. We call this group “the missing middle.”
Until now, the absence of a clearly defined category has made it difficult to capture or report on their experiences systematically.
What is ‘digital inclusion?’
Digital inclusion is about ensuring all Australians, no matter who they are or where they live, have access to affordable, quality telecommunications and internet, and possess the skills necessary to benefit from these connections.
The issue is even more important as we face a changing climate, with telecommunications playing a crucial role in emergencies and during natural disasters.
Our research from 2023 on emergency preparedness with rural residents showed the importance of ongoing telecommunications connectivity—especially during emergencies.
People participate in online community forums by keeping each other informed about conditions and contacting emergency services such as Triple Zero if they need to during the disaster. Afterwards, they use the internet to apply for financial assistance online.
Of course, natural disasters do not discriminate. Recent cyclones, floods and bushfires have impacted urban areas, as well as the outer edges of cities and key regional centers.
A good location doesn’t equal good connectivity
These combined forces have ensured telecommunications policies consistently focus on access. But access is just one component of Australia’s connectivity needs.
Through various interviews, focus groups and fieldwork across urban, regional and rural Australia from 2021–24 we have found that location alone doesn’t determine how good connectivity is.
In fact, some remote areas fare better than outer regional areas when it comes to telecommunications connectivity. This indicates geography isn’t the only factor affecting people’s level of digital inclusion.
Instead, compounding factors are determining whether or not people are digitally included.
For example, some people may not have enough money to afford appropriate connectivity to meet basic needs, needing two SIM cards to manage two unreliable networks. Infrastructure investment can also be patchy. A major regional town might have excellent coverage, but satellite towns could have a much poorer experience.
Urban networks can also taper off before reaching new builds on the edge of cities. Other people may have simply purchased a house amid inhospitable terrain, which can impact whether satellite internet services such as Starlink can be installed.
Voices from the ‘missing middle’
Experiences of 5G mobile consumers in suburban and regional Victoria we spoke with in 2024 give us some sense of this “missing middle” population.
One participant from Gippsland said, “I can be in the main street of a main regional town and not have reception.”
Another participant said it was “less than ideal” that in the area between two towns “there’s still patches where we don’t get reception.” Echoing this, another participant said they felt it was reasonable to “expect to be able to drive from Gisborne to Kyneton [a distance of 30km] and not drop out on a phone call three times.”
These issues were not the sole preserve of those living in regional areas. Someone from a new housing development on the outskirts of Melbourne told us there was barely any mobile coverage in the area and said their phone was “just not usable.”
Dubbo is another example. While some major regional cities are well-connected, this major town in the central west of New South Wales is also part of the “missing middle.”
First Nations organizations there experienced slow and unreliable network connection. This impacted their capacity to service the area. Drops in coverage resulted in double handling of work. For example, land surveys would often need to be written by hand on site, then converted to digital forms back in a place with better connectivity.
A targeted approach
Lots of work has been done in recent years to improve connectivity across Australia.
Since the National Broadband Network (NBN) was completed in 2020, more fixed line services—where a connection is installed in the home (like an NBN box)—have been made available in rural towns.
The federal government’s flagship infrastructure projects—such as the Regional Connectivity Program and Mobile Blackspot Program—have also steadily improved digital inclusion in many locations over the last decade. Starlink and the NBN’s satellite internet service SkyMuster are new entrants, providing a new connectivity option for people who live in the right locations (and can afford it).
However, current policy approaches to patching up connectivity gaps minimize the scale of the missing middle.
This is the result of several factors. First, a failure to understand the different needs of the local and visitor populations who use digital services. Second, fragmentation across telecommunications options (NBN, mobile hotspotting and Starlink). Third, a need to account for overlapping disadvantages.
We need to look beyond location or access, and develop a robust account of the “missing middle.”
Doing so requires policymakers and researchers to focus on areas with mixed and complex connectivity needs. Importantly, this kind of shift will help policymakers target the needs of these Australian telecommunication consumers.
This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.
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Some major Australian towns still have poor phone reception—it’s threatening public safety (2025, October 18)
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Leah Feiger: So it’s a really good question actually, and it’s one that I’ve thought about for quite some time. I think if it’s not annoying, I want to read this quote from Scott Kupor, the director of OPM and the former managing partner at Andreessen Horowitz, to be clear, just to remind everyone where people are coming from in this current administration. He posted this on X late last month, and this was part of Reuter’s reporting. So he posts, “The truth is, DOGE may not have centralized leadership under USDS anymore, but the principles of DOGE remain alive and well, deregulation, eliminating fraud, waste and abuse, reshaping the federal workforce, et cetera, et cetera, et cetera.” Which is the exact same, the thing that they’ve been saying this entire time, but it’s all smoke and mirrors, right? It’s like, oh no, no, well, DOGE doesn’t exactly exist anymore. There’s no Elon Musk character leading it, which Elon Musk himself said on the podcast with Joe Rogan last month as well. He’s like, “Yeah, once I left, they weren’t able to pick on anyone, but don’t worry, DOGE is still there.” So it feels wild to watch people fall for this and go like, “DOGE is gone now.” And I’m like, they’re literally telling us that it’s not.
Zoë Schiffer: I think one thing that does feel honestly true is that it is harder and harder to differentiate where DOGE stops and the Trump administration begins because they have infiltrated so many different parts of government and the DOGE ethos, what you’re talking about, deregulation, cost cuttings, zero-based budgeting, those have really become kind of table stakes for the admin, right?
Leah Feiger: I think that’s such a good point. And honestly, by the end of Elon Musk’s reign, something that kept coming up wasn’t necessarily that the Trump administration didn’t agree with DOGE’s ethos at all. It was that they didn’t really agree with how Musk was going about it. They didn’t like that he was stepping on Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and having fights outside of the Oval Office. That was bad optics and that also wasn’t helping the Trump administration even look like they were on top of it.
The debate over Horses’ delisting is emblematic of a bigger fight that’s taken place this year, when platforms such as Steam and Itch.io yanked down “NSFW” and “porn” games in July. Developers, players, and trade organizations have continued to be vocal about developers’ creative rights to make games that deal with adult content.
“Developers shouldn’t have to compromise their creative vision, but we also have to acknowledge that games exist within capitalist structures where access to platforms determines livelihood,” says Jakin Vela, executive director of the International Game Developers Association, a nonprofit supporting game developers. “The key is informed decision-making and understanding what each platform allows, what risks exist, and whether your artistic goals outweigh those risks.”
Still, Vela says, these removals have exposed the fragility of developers’ economic security. “We should be concerned whenever a system allows a creator’s livelihood to be cut off without transparency or recourse,” he says. The video game industry is highly consolidated, with a handful of platforms controlling access to the vast majority of players. “That imbalance creates a structural issue, not necessarily because platforms enforce rules, but because there are so few viable alternatives.”
Santa Ragione’s future should not hinge on its ability to exist on Steam or any other platform. A bad project should not spell the end of a developer who is, for all the criticisms I have of its game, trying to say something. That part of this story may still yet have a happy, or at least a survivable, ending. The Streisand effect is paying off for Horses. On the digital distribution platform GOG, where it’s still available, the game is a top-seller.
Horses needs to be defended against censorship. It is also a bad game that should be examined as such. But while the conversation around Horses is still stalling out about why the game is allowed to exist, or how it’s not that offensive, the better question is why we really care about it at all—and why, as players, we feel so reluctant to talk about its failings like any other piece of media.
I try to test every individual product critically and neutrally, but sometimes a brand comes along that seemingly cannot miss. We have liked everything we’ve tried from Silk & Snow, and right now the company is hosting a Cyber Week Sale that runs through December 7. You can save on some of our favorite bed frames and mattresses that we’ve tested long-term in our own homes, and if you prefer to browse on your own, the sale offers up to 35 percent off site-wide. I’ve rounded up the highlights on WIRED-tested gear below.
WIRED Featured Deals:
Silk & Snow Bed Frame With Drawer Storage for $560 ($140 off)
In our Bed Frame Buying Guide, I say that Silk & Snow could charge more for this bed frame—but right now, it’s 20 percent off. Assembly is a little bit annoying. But the fabric-covered headboard is gorgeous, and the frame is sturdy. My favorite part is the drawer cleverly concealed at the foot of the frame, with its two partitions and its magnetic closure. It does feel a little jarring if you open and close the drawer while your partner is in bed, but I like having extra storage in my room, especially since this frame is too low to the ground to allow for stashing things under it.
Silk & Snow S&S Organic Mattress for $765 ($235 off)
Courtesy of Silk & Snow
Silk & Snow
S&S Organic Mattress
The S&S Organic Mattress is the best organic latex mattress. It’s very soft and offers a lot of pressure relief and support, but the responsive material means it’s better suited to solo sleepers than it is to couples. It feels like a soft, dense marshmallow, per our sleep reviewer Julia Forbes, who advises using lightweight blankets and cooling sheets if you’re a hot sleeper and also raved about the lengthy year-long sleep trial. As part of the Cyber Week sale, you can choose between a free sleep bundle (with a sheet set, a duvet, two microfiber pillows, and a mattress protector) or you can opt out of the bundle to get an extra 10 percent off your mattress.
Silk & Snow Wooden Bed Frame for $1,040 ($260 off)
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Photograph: Julia Forbes
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Photograph: Julia Forbes
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Photograph: Julia Forbes
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Photograph: Julia Forbes
Silk & Snow
Wooden Bed Frame
This bed frame from Silk & Snow made our list of the best Thuma dupes. The Japanese joinery platform frame comes in your choice of natural rubber wood or cortado acacia wood, each in two different finishes. Assembly is pretty easy and doesn’t require any special tools, and you’ll get a robust five-year warranty. The resulting frame is sturdy and gorgeous, though we recommend having a helper around if you need to disassemble the frame to protect the finish on the wood.
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