Telstra Country Wide Director, Gary Goldsworthy, said Telstra was concerned that some customers may not realise they were on the CDMA mobile network, which will close down at midnight on 28 April 2008.
“It’s vitally important that all mobile customers conduct a health check on their mobile phones in coming days to ensure they aren’t inadvertently using a CDMA service,” Mr Goldsworthy said.
“Despite our repeated attempts to alert customers about the impending CDMA network closure, we’re concerned that some people are ignoring the notification as they don’t even know they are on the CDMA network.
“We are aware that there are a lot of customers who have had their mobile service for years and might not know there is more than one mobile phone network in Australia.
“We also know that many families and businesses pass down their mobiles when they upgrade, so the recipient may not know that they are in fact using a CDMA handset and service,” Mr Goldsworthy said.
Mr Goldsworthy said the easiest way for customers to tell if they are using the CDMA network is to:
* Open the back of their mobile handset and see if it has a SIM card. If the handset doesn’t have a SIM card, then you are using the old CDMA network.
* When the phone is on, check the front screen and see if it says “CDMA”. If it does, then you are using the old CDMA network.
“After 28 April 2008 no one will be able to make or receive mobile calls on the old CDMA network. We are therefore urging customers to perform a quick health check on all their mobile phones, determine if they’re on the CDMA network and quickly upgrade to another network, such as the Telstra Next G” network, if necessary,” Mr Goldsworthy said.
“We understand that some customers may need assistance so the best solution is to visit a Telstra shop or dealer where our staff are on stand-by and ready to offer expert advice and guidance.
“Moving off CDMA and on to the Telstra Next G™ network is simple, but CDMA customers must act now before it’s too late,” Mr Goldsworthy said.