Vodafone exposes Telstra’s mobile coverage claims

Monday, 19 May 2025 – Vodafone has called for a regulatory investigation into Telstra’s mobile coverage claims after discovering the telco appears to have been misleading Australians for more than a decade.

Vodafone alleges Telstra has engaged in misleading or deceptive conduct for over 15 years by dramatically overstating the geographic reach of its mobile network by as much as 40 per cent and has been using these inflated coverage claims to make unfair comparisons against other mobile operators’ network coverage.

Telstra and its secondary brand, Boost Mobile, appear to have been overstating the network coverage most Australians will experience by nearly one million square kilometres - roughly the size of New South Wales, Victoria and ACT combined.

“This is alarming. It appears Telstra has tricked Australians into paying top dollar for coverage they simply can’t get on a regular mobile phone. We are shocked that Telstra appears to have been overstating its coverage by so much for so long and we are calling on them to make it right,” said Kieren Cooney, Group Executive Consumer, Data and Analytics at TPG Telecom.

“Telstra’s conduct could have misled consumers into believing they can get coverage in places that require special equipment.

“By overstating the coverage available to most Australians by such an enormous amount, Telstra and its resellers have no doubt retained customers or attracted customers that might otherwise have chosen Vodafone or other TPG Telecom brands such as TPG, Felix, Lebara and Kogan.”

Telstra has been advertising these coverage claims and using them in its Annual Reports going back over 15 years.

Coverage claims made on the same basis have also been published by other providers using the Telstra mobile network, including Belong, Aldi, Tangerine, Woolworths and More Telecom.

Analysis of network maps provided for the ACCC’s 2024 Mobile Infrastructure Report appear to show that Telstra has been making claims about its network coverage based on signal strength that can only be obtained with the use of a special external antenna and powered repeater usually installed on a building or vehicle, and must be purchased at significant additional cost.

In contrast, Vodafone bases its network coverage claims on “outdoor coverage”, a measure of the signal strength that a customer would receive using a mobile phone outside, with no special antenna or powered repeater.

Vodafone’s owner, TPG Telecom, has repeatedly asked Telstra to cease making the claims and to take corrective action. While Telstra has rejected TPG Telecom’s claims, it has recently changed its website to remove some references to the contentious coverage claim or try to explain that it requires an external antenna. By making these changes, Telstra has effectively accepted the earlier claims were misleading, however Vodafone does not believe the changes have addressed the misleading conduct.

TPG Telecom has reported the conduct to the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission and is also considering legal action to require Telstra to cease the conduct and pay compensation.

Key allegations against Telstra

1. 3 Million Square Kilometres Coverage Claim: Telstra has claimed that its mobile network covers an area of three million square kilometres. The actual coverage received by most Telstra mobile users is nearly one million square kilometres less. Telstra’s advertised coverage is based on using an external antenna and repeater, which very few people have.
2. Population Coverage Claim: Telstra has claimed that its network has 99.7% population coverage. This claim is also based on using an external antenna and repeater and ignores the fact that very few Australians have this costly equipment.
3. Comparative Coverage Claim: Telstra has asserted that its network covers more than double the area of Optus’s network and around three times the area of Vodafone/TPG's network. This compares Telstra's external antenna coverage with Vodafone/TPG's outdoor coverage, which is not a like-for-like comparison.

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About Vodafone Australia

Vodafone Australia is a telecommunications brand offering mobile and fixed broadband services.

Vodafone Australia is part of TPG Telecom.