Surveyors Australia attended the 3G Shutdown Parliamentary Enquiry on 23 July 2024. Their primary concern is that 70 per cent of surveyors across the country don’t have upgraded equipment for this shutdown or are concerned that precision of their older equipment will be affected – something that could have severe impacts on regional and rural projects.
Australian Rural & Regional News found out more from Michelle Blicavs, the CEO of Surveyors Australia.
ARR.News: How many surveyors are there operating in rural and regional areas across Australia?
Michelle Blicavs: There are 19,000 surveyors in Australia and about 40 per cent of those are based in regionally.
ARR.News: Do you know their coverage across the country (how many across which states and regions)?
Michelle Blicavs: Coverage is focussed on the coastline with challenges in western NSW, central Queensland and across the Northern Territory and north of WA
ARR.News: What would the cost of an upgrade be for the average surveying practice?
Michelle Blicavs: Surveyors need to upgrade their data controllers to 4G and 5G enabled machines. 85 per cent of our members employ less than 20 staff and we estimate each firm will need to spend a minimum of $10,000 up to about $50,000. The other 15 per cent of firms are looking at between $250,000 and $500,000 with the largest four firms expecting a bill of up to $1,000,000 in upgrade equipment
ARR.News: Wasn’t there sufficient notice of the 3G shutdown for surveyors to prepare? if there was, why aren’t they ready for it?
Michelle Blicavs: The original notification happened to close to the pandemic when other more pressing matters were the focus of every business in the country. It’s not just about notice, but about broader engagement with industries to understand the impact before the decision was made for the shutdown. It’s not just the cost of replacing mobile phones, which we note Optus and Telstra are now offering. They haven’t approached us to offer replacement data controllers.
Our industry was not contacted by the Government or the telcos when the decision to switch off was made in 2019. Covid may have made advertising this change more difficult in the following years. Our equipment is produced overseas and we don’t believe suppliers were made aware of the changes for Australia until more recently. Our complete controller needs to be replaced. It is not just changing a SIM card like is the case in the USA.
Devices can last 5-10 years. Anyone who has purchased in recent years will soon have useless equipment.
ARR.News: Is there any support for surveyors upgrading?
Michelle Blicavs: Our suppliers are offering discounts for trade-ins but still at a cost of $7-8,000.
ARR.News: Have surveyors approached their local MPs? Any response?
Michelle Blicavs: We are unaware of whether any have contacted their local MPs.
ARR.News: What type of rural and regional projects do you believe will be most adversely affected by the shutdown?
Michelle Blicavs: Every project a surveyor is supposed to work on will be delayed if they are unable to upgrade in time. Notably that would be infrastructure such as bridges, roads and rail. But also housing developments in regional and rural areas. If the 4 and 5G coverage doesn’t take in all the areas formerly covered by 3G then there will be new blackspots. From fence lines and land boundaries to major road and rail construction projects.
Concerns for the safety of surveyors if they are working in areas without service – may now need to send two person teams instead of one as they can’t access network coverage in case of accident or loss of contact.
ARR.News: Will it affect the roll out of renewables projects (generally or specific projects)?
Michelle Blicavs: Only if their surveyor has been unable to upgrade. But surveyors are working on solar farms, wind farms, hydro projects and others across the country.
ARR.News: Are there some regions more badly affected than others?
Michelle Blicavs: Areas where the 3G network will not be quickly replaced by 4G and 5G and so become black spots due to the switch off. We are particularly concerned about Central and Northern Queensland and Western NSW.
