Post #3716250

2026-07-08 05:51 UTC

NTCS, sensibly, is a multi-radio-interface solution. The ICE radios can use Satellite, GSM-R (train-only 2G mobile networks used in suburban Melbourne, Sydney, Brisbane and Adelaide), UHF (mainly for “Local Train Radio” purposes like talking to crews while shunting) and… Telstra’s mobile phone network. (Cont.)

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@ThermiteBeGiants@aus.social 2026-07-08 05:51

See, the problem is that previously all the different train operators used varied UHF and VHF radio spectrum. Radio spectrum - and the infrastructure to maintain coverage - that has, today, become really quite expensive . ARTC opted to use Telstra’s mobile network as a radio interface provider because that gives them a lot of network coverage - not just radio coverage, but also the backhaul from those radio base station locations to the railway network control centres - at a much cheaper price than you’d get covering the much-less-busy country areas that make up the vast majority of ARTC’s route-kilometres. With some targeted investment from ARTC for Telstra to improve coverage specifically for them, and an appropriate Service Level Agreement with Telstra so that young Jaxyn riding the train to Armidale watching TikTok on his phone won’t cause the train radio to drop out, it seemed like a clever and frugal solution. (Cont.)

Open ##3716254