Communications Minister Stephen Conroy said Telstra had met its obligations and requirements to allow for the network’s closure, and that CDMA system would be switched off on April 28.

“I am satisfied that Telstra has met the equivalence tests in its licence condition and has sufficiently rectified the problems I identified in January, including handheld handset coverage,” Senator Conroy said.

“Today I urge anyone who still has a CDMA phone to make the necessary arrangements to switch to another network as quickly as possible.”

Mr Booth said the vast majority of customers, including those in rural and regional Australia, had already moved across to the company’s Next G network.

He said Telstra would begin contacting the remaining customers immediately to inform them of the decision and urge them to move before the old CDMA network was shut down for good.

“We will be sending all CDMA customers a further letter and text messages to make sure they are aware of the final closure date, which is now just two weeks away,” Mr Booth said.

NSW Farmers’ Association president Jock Laurie said the Association had several remaining concerns with the Next G Network that must be addressed in the coming days.

“We continue to hear concerns from our members, and while we accept the Minister’s decision, he has promised a smooth transition and that is what we will require for our regional communities,” Mr Laurie said.

“Patchy coverage is still being experienced, and there is concern that in some instances technicians simply can not identify a Next G handset capable of providing equivalent coverage to CDMA,” he said.

“We will not rest while these issues remain for our members and neither should the
Federal Government or Telstra,” he added.

Mr Laurie said farmers now need to recognise the shut off is happening, and anyone who still has a CDMA phone needs to make the switch to another network as quickly as possible.