The battle for a better mobile deal in regional Australia is over – ACCC agrees to Optus and Vodafone network sharing

It’s a win for consumers, and a staggeringly long overdue one at that. The ACCC has agreed to allow Vodafone and Optus to do some network sharing deals to give more choice to Australian’s in regional areas and in the end – a better deal.

What started out over seven years ago with Vodafone CEO  Iñaki Berroeta calling for a Domestic Roaming arrangement which would allow carriers to have customers bounce from tower to tower not worrying about poor coverage options was quashed by the ACCC.

Then In 2022 TPG/Vodafone cut a deal with Telstra to share spectrum and get access to the regional Telstra network. The ACCC said “Hold by Beer” and decided to look into it. Despite a range of real world submissions from actual consumers (those the ACCC is there to protect and ensure competition exists for), the ACCC rejected that deal.

Earlier this year, TPG/Vodafone decided to do the next best thing and do a similar deal with Optus. Of course, the ACCC wanted to look into that, and despite it all being very similar, and frankly offering the same broad deal to average Australians, this one has been approved.

I’m delighted and excited, but also completely miffed by the dramatic mis-step by the ACCC in overlooking a genuine chance to create competition against the biggest Telco plans in the market with the original deal. Leaving that aside, this is good news.

It means Vodafone customers in regional areas where there’s no Vodafone coverage will roam onto the Optus network.

This will, effectively, double the size of the Vodafone network footprint.

“This is a huge win for customers and regional Australia, with our award-winning mobile services soon to be available in thousands of holiday destinations and regional communities across the country,” said Kieren Cooney, Vodafone Group Executive, Consumer.

“This will be a game-changer for the millions of Australians in our cities and regions who want great value and mobile coverage when travelling to all the places we love to visit.

“With this network expansion we will break the mobile duopoly that has limited customer choice in regional Australia for too long. We’ve listened to our customers and are excited to say Vodafone’s coming to town.”

Vodafone knows that tourism will be a big part in this, highlighting the tourist areas that will be served by this deal, places like Cloncurry and Thursday Island in Queensland; Lachlan in Tasmania and Wattle Flat in New South Wales will have 4G and later, 5G connectivity on the Vodafone network for this first time. Destinations including Cobar and Lightning Ridge in New South Wales; Coober Pedy, and Tumby Bay in South Australia; and Coral Bay and Cape Range National Park in Western Australia will go from 3G to 4G.

From Optus’ perspective, the deal means Optus can continue to push their 5G rollout into the regional areas, with 1500 5G sites by the end of 2028 and 2444 by the end of 2030.

Optus Interim CEO Michael Venter said: “Today’s ACCC’s decision is a great outcome for regional Australia, with the rollout of 5G infrastructure to be completed by around two years earlier than previously planned.

“By sharing our infrastructure and technology, Optus and TPG will be able to deliver even more choice and better services for regional customers.

“This arrangement will allow Optus to press the fast forward button on 5G infrastructure roll-out to more regional communities. It will also provide Optus with access to more spectrum so regional customers can experience 5G’s fast speeds, low latency, and increased capacity.

“This is so important for customers given how essential mobile services are to our daily lives, whether it’s browsing the internet, connecting with friends and family on social media or streaming our favourite movies and TV shows.

“We are very excited to be able to progress this network sharing agreement following today’s decision and to continue delivering for our regional customers.”