Telstra Confirms Shutting Down CDMA Network at End of April
Australia's government has finally confirmed that Telstra can shut down its CDMA network from the end of this month - after several delays. Telstra Country Wide Group Managing Director, Mr Geoff Booth said the vast majority of customers, including those in rural and regional Australia, had already moved across to the WCDMA based Next G network, and encouraged customers remaining on the CDMA network to do the same as soon as possible.
He said Telstra would begin contacting the remaining customers immediately to inform them of the decision and urge them to move before the old CDMA network was shut down for good.
"We will be sending all CDMA customers a further letter and text messages to make sure they are aware of the final closure date, which is now just two weeks away.
"We have been talking to our customers about this closure for more than two years and most have already moved to the new network. Those remaining have been waiting for this decision, confirming once and for all the network will close on 28 April," Mr Booth said.
"28 April will close a chapter in Australia's mobile telecommunications history and cement a new era that, for the first time, gives rural and regional Australians access to the same world-leading services that are available to people in major metropolitan centres like Sydney and Melbourne," Mr Booth said.
Telstra had planned to close its CDMA network in January but was ordered to delay the closure by the Australian Telecommunications Minister, Helen Coonan. "I have decided to impose a license condition on Telstra to ensure that it doesn't switch off the current CDMA network until its transitional network next-G provides equivalent or better coverage," Coonan told reporters last August.
Posted to the site on 15th April 2008
