In response to "3G Shutdown a Disaster for Australians" by Malcolm Roberts

My response:

EDIT: I was previously unaware of the implications regarding emergency calls. Although what I say below is not incorrect I no longer hold the opinion that the telcos should plough straight ahead.

The 3G shutdown is something that you should want and it's not just a cost-saving measure for the telcos.

Firstly, a degradation of coverage is a terrible thing, that should be rectified by upgrading the 4G and 5G coverage, not keeping on 3G on. I fully support government support into ensuring that everyone who relies on it has coverage.

As for people with older phones, unfortunately they do need to upgrade, the phones are expected to have a fixed lifespan and basically all phones produced within the last 4 years support VoLTE calling (which is needed to make calls without the 3G network), that's not to say that those manufactured before that don't have it as it can easily be added with a software update. A new VoLTE-compatible phone can be purchased for less than $50. Most phones produced before VoLTE support probably run such old software that they're are a security risk.

Now the reason you should want it: the shut-down of the 3G network allows the frequencies it used to be "re-farmed" this means they'll be allocated to 4G and 5G, as well as emerging technologies to improve the speed, coverage, and resilience of those, rather than keeping up 3G which is an expensive, slow, and clunky standard.

On a side note on the power bills: YOU CAN LOOK AT YOUR METER AND GET A READING, if you want to know how much power you've used: get off your phone and look at the thing. Also, not being able to check your meter doesn't increase most people's power bills that much?

Also those surveyors, $15000 is a lot, I get it, but surveying equipment is wicked expensive and it wouldn't be unaffordable for them to upgrade.

That said, government oversight is probably a good thing, but the shutdown shouldn't be blocked. But it is possible that the 4G and 5G network's aren't yet ready to take over with the same level of service, maybe a few more years.