Domestic roaming could soon be a possibility for Australians. Photo: ChatGPT“Now is the right time” to consider major changes to Australia’s mobile market, ACCC commissioner Anna Brakey has said in announcing a 12-month inquiry into reforms including domestic roaming and shared radio access networks (RAN). One proposal is mandatory domestic roaming that would allow customers to automatically switch to another carrier’s network during natural disasters and other events causing service interruptions. The inquiry will consider issues including changing mobile coverage and consumer needs; current and potential mobile services competition; how regulation could affect investment in mobile networks; and whether consumers have “meaningful choice” in choosing their mobile provider. Advocacy group the Australian Communications Consumer Action Network (ACCAN) recently published a position paper on mandatory domestic roaming that, it said, “would address ongoing coverage inequities and ensure more equitable access to terrestrial mobile coverage.”