Vodafone has referred its biggest rival to the ACCC, alleging that Telstra has misled Aussies about the size of its mobile network.
In a statement, Vodafone claimed that Telstra has engaged in misleading or deceptive conduct by overstating the reach of its mobile network "by as much as 40 per cent" for over a decade.
The crux of the allegations being made by Vodafone is that Telstra's network coverage claims - such as that it covers three million kilometers or 99.7% of the Australian population - are based on the use of an external antenna.
Vodafone claims that this is not representative of what typical Telstra customers experience and therefore both the specific claims that Telstra makes about the size of its network and the comparisons it makes to rivals like Optus and Vodafone are misleading to potential customers.
TPG Telecom executive Kieren Cooney called Telstra's conduct alarming and confusing for Australian consumers.
Vodafone-owner TPG Telecom said that it made multiple appeals to Telstra to take corrective action over the matter. It has since referred Telstra's conduct to the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission and now claims to be considering legal action over the matter.
Telstra has strongly pushed back against Vodafone's arguments, with a spokesperson for the company insisting that consumers have always been able to determine the level of Telstra coverage both with and without an external antenna.
"Any suggestion that we've misled the public about the size of our network is completely untrue," they said.
"Many customers in regional and remote areas benefit from using external antennas to maximise their coverage. This is why we have used this as the basis for our coverage footprint."
Despite the denial, Telstra has changed its website to add clarification around the relationship between its coverage claims and the involvement of any external antennae.
"Now that Vodafone has communicated to us how it’s chosen to calculate its coverage footprint, to help the public understand the difference, we’re highlighting that our 3 million square kilometres of coverage is based on using an external antenna," Telstra's spokesperson said.
Regardless, Vodafone has argued that by making these changes, "Telstra has effectively accepted the earlier claims were misleading."
Other industry figures have been quick to weigh in on the matter, with ACCAN CEO Carol Bennett calling the claims serious and damaging.
“Australians take note of claims made by telcos about their network size, network reliability and network performance in deciding their mobile provider. They do so on the presumption that telcos are honest with this information.”
Bennett said that consumers deserve accurate information about the coverage they're paying for.
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