Telstra announced this week that they’d trialled the technology that would see mobile users with a different provider connect to their surviving towers - if there were any - in periods of natural disaster, particularly in regional areas. 

The major Telco has been working alongside TPG and Optus to develop the technology since late last year, after the Federal Government announced that they would help mobile carriers to make it feasible. 

The trials took place at Telstra’s testing site on the Gold Coast. 

“As the telco with the largest mobile coverage, we will continue to work with other network providers and the government to explore the feasibility of implementing the temporary disaster roaming and develop the industry solution,” Telstra’s technology development and innovation executive Channa Seneviratne said.

“There are some technical and financial challenges, but really importantly the learnings we got from our simulations will help us guide that conversation.”

Temporary Disaster Roaming (TDR) trials saw a phone from another network connect to Telstra's network. (Supplied)

The feasibility of this solution came from an ACCC inquiry into regional mobile infrastructure that finished in 2023, finding Australia is behind in implementing this kind of emergency-based technology.

The ‘roaming’ technology is an addition to the ability to call Triple Zero, a function that’s already built into mobile phones. 

“Developing TDR (temporary disaster roaming) is complex, as we have to take into account the stress it would put on any surviving networks, and the technical work required to get it going,” Mr Seneviratne said.

High demand for the remaining network makes it less feasible in city areas. 

“The intention is that we will keep this solution in place for a specific time and a specific geographical area.”

While TDR is seemingly something that Optus, Telstra and TPG are all on board with, there has been little progress on network sharing in general. 

Last year, a deal to decommission some of TPG’s Vodafone mobile sites in order to access Telstra’s mobile sites was blocked by the Australian Competition Tribunal, ultimately deciding it would further increase Telstra’s competitive position in the market, with no material affect to TPG’s market position. 

The ruling was much to the disappointment of local councils like Bourke, Coonamble and the Alliance of Western Councils, who supported the TPG/Telstra collaboration. 

As for the emergency roaming, Telstra will continue to develop the infrastructure alongside other telcos before it will officially be implemented. 

There is no indication of when the emergency roaming system - which would be limited to calls and texts - will be delivered.