Laws passed to expand mobile coverage, protect consumers

The Australian Government last week passed legislation designed to expand basic mobile coverage across the country and ensure no one is left behind when it comes to connectivity.

The Telecommunications Legislation Amendment (Universal Outdoor Mobile Obligation) Bill 2026 passed in the Senate with Coalition amendments, while Greens and Jacqui Lambie Network amendments were voted down. The Bill implements the Universal Outdoor Mobile Obligation (UOMO), which will require mobile carriers Telstra, Optus and TPG to provide access to SMS and voice coverage for Australians almost everywhere you can see the sky — thus delivering better connectivity to some of the country’s hardest-to-reach places.

The improved coverage will be made possible by a combination of existing land-based towers and new low-Earth-orbit (LEO) satellite technology, which allows for mobile signals to connect direct to device. The law also allows the Minister for Communications to determine standards, benchmarks and rules mobile service operators must meet to ensure they deliver quality and reliable services to Australians.

The UOMO will start on 1 December 2027, subject to market developments, with the government working closely with industry and stakeholders on the rollout.

The government has also passed legislation intended to better protect consumers by holding telecommunications providers to account, with the Telecommunications Amendment (Enhancing Consumer Safeguards) Bill 2025 (TECS Bill) enabling the Australian Communications and Media Authority (ACMA) to act quicker and take immediate action for breaches of industry rules.

The law increases penalties by about 40 times, to more than $10 million or higher in some circumstances — with fines to be based on the value of the benefit obtained from the breach, or the turnover of the relevant telco. It also strengthens the infringement notice penalty framework.

Registered industry codes will become directly enforceable, allowing the ACMA to act on breaches without first directing a provider to comply. Furthermore, a new telco registration scheme will, as a last resort, allow the ACMA to prevent providers with serious compliance failures from staying in the market.

Acting ACMA Chair Adam Suckling said, “The new laws are good for Australian consumers because they will see improved Australia-wide mobile coverage and also enhance consumer protections.

“These reforms will allow the ACMA to act earlier and more directly, backed by substantially higher penalties and stronger infringement notices.”

The Australian Communications Consumer Action Network (ACCAN) has welcomed the passage of the TECS Bill, saying it represents a major win for telecommunications consumers that ACCAN and other members of the so-called the Fair Call Coalition have long campaigned for.

“These reforms better align telecommunications with other essential services like energy by strengthening enforcement, lifting penalties and making industry codes enforceable,” said ACCAN CEO Carol Bennett.

“These new penalties and powers will promote accountability, transparency and compliance across the sector and hopefully help rebuild trust.

“Of course, new powers are only as good as the regulator who wields them, and we expect the ACMA to act quickly and transparently when providers fall short. Consumers need and deserve protection from exploitation and harm.”

ACCAN has a few more reservations about the UOMO Bill, with Bennett saying the government and Coalition missed the chance to support amendments that would have made a real difference to consumer compensation, reliability standards and domestic mobile roaming.

“Until roaming and enforceable reliability standards are in place, Australians have no guarantee they can connect when it matters most,” she said. “And without rules around compensation for outages and loss of service, we are again relying on telco goodwill.

“There is nothing new for consumers; nothing changes right now. What has to start now is real and meaningful reliability standards that can be implemented as soon as the ACCC concludes its inquiry in 12 months’ time.”

ACCAN looks forward to working with policymakers, regulators, industry and community organisations to ensure the effective implementation of the TECS reforms. In the meantime, its advocacy to see comprehensive reliability standards, and to lock in domestic mobile roaming, will continue.

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