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East Gippsland Shire Council welcomes Temporary Disaster Roaming 1 October 2026, allowing access to other networks during eligible natural disasters

East Gippsland Shire Council welcomes Temporary Disaster Roaming, activated by Telstra, Optus and TPG on October 1, 2026, allowing access to other networks for essential calls, texts and limited data during eligible disasters.

By news@gippsland - 13th October 2026 - Back to News

East Gippsland Shire Council welcomes the introduction of Temporary Disaster Roaming arrangements, which provide an important additional layer of telecommunications communications resilience for communities during natural disasters.

Council welcomes Temporary Disaster Roaming, activated by Telstra, Optus and TPG on October 1, 2026, enabling essential calls, texts and limited data through available networks during disasters

Council welcomes Temporary Disaster Roaming, activated by Telstra, Optus and TPG on October 1, 2026, enabling essential calls, texts and limited data through available networks during disasters

Temporary disaster roaming

Australia's major telecommunications providers (Telstra, Optus and TPG) activated Temporary Disaster Roaming (TDR) from 1 October 2026. When a natural disaster disrupts one network, customers may be able to connect to another available network for essential calls, texts and limited data services, subject to network availability and operational requirements.

TDR is intended for major natural disasters such as bushfires, floods and cyclones and provides access to voice calls, SMS, and limited data for essential services and emergency information. More information can be found on the Telstra website. The service allows customers impacted by network outages during eligible disasters to access another available telecommunications network for essential communications when conditions permit.

Building stronger telecommunications

Mayor Cr Jodie Ashworth said the development aligns with long-standing advocacy by Council for improved telecommunications resilience. "Reliable telecommunications are an essential service that communities rely on every day, and especially during emergencies when access to information can be critical to people's safety and wellbeing."

"Following major emergency events including the 2019-20 bushfires and the 2024 February storm event when telecommunications were lost, Council has consistently advocated for stronger telecommunications resilience. This has included emergency roaming arrangements, improved backup power, mandatory reliability standards and greater investment in regional communications infrastructure," Cr Ashworth said.

Strong telecommunications and resilience

Council has consistently called for:

  • Emergency roaming to be mandated for all carriers
  • Voice and data telecommunications to be formally recognised as an essential service
  • Mandatory infrastructure reliability standards
  • Greater investment to improve telecommunications resilience in the face of natural disasters and climate-related events

"The introduction of disaster roaming is a positive step and demonstrates that the concerns raised by regional communities are being heard," Cr Ashworth said. To learn more, visit Temporary Disaster Roaming page.

Pictures from One Gippsland Facebook page.


Source: http://gippsland.com/

Published by: news@gippsland.com



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