DISASTER ROAMING SWITCHED ON TO HELP RURAL MOBILE USERS

A new mobile phone service designed to maintain communications during natural disasters has been switched on across regional and rural Australia as of Thursday, October 1.

Temporary Disaster Roaming will allow compatible mobile phones to connect to another participating network when their usual provider's service is disrupted during an eligible disaster.

Telstra, Optus and TPG will work together to determine when the service can be activated, with calls, text messages and limited data available at no additional cost.

The service will only operate where another network is still available and has enough capacity to safely carry additional users.

It will not work if all nearby networks are down, and is intended for compatible smartphones supporting VoLTE roaming.

Temporary Disaster Roaming is separate from Triple Zero, which can already be called from any available mobile network when a customer's own network is unavailable.

The Australian Telecommunications Alliance says users will have enough data for essential services such as messaging and emergency information, although full-speed data services will not be available.