Telstra has welcomed the ACCC’s final decision to not declare mobile roaming.

Chief Executive Officer Andrew Penn said it was the best outcome for customers in regional Australia.

“We welcome the final decision as the right decision for the people, businesses and communities of regional Australia,” Mr Penn said.

“Australia has world class telecommunications networks with strong incentives to invest and it was important to ensure that the policy settings continued to promote that investment. It was particularly important for people in regional communities because of their reliance on coverage and future technology innovation.

“Today’s announcement also continues to create a competitive environment to encourage others to invest as well.

“Telstra has always been a strong investor in regional Australia and leader in mobile telecommunications.

“In August this year, we delivered on our promise to expand our 4G coverage to reach 99 percent of the population in 2017. As a result, Telstra now has more than 9,000 mobile sites across the network. This includes 7,300 4G sites, with more than 1,100 of these upgraded to 4GX since the beginning of the year.

“Telstra’s 3G and 4G coverage combined also now reaches 99.4 percent of the population and covers 2.4 million square kilometres of the Australian landmass, including hundreds of thousands of square kilometres of regional and rural Australia not served by any other carrier.

“Today’s decision now paves the way for ongoing investments in coming years. Through our own direct investment, as well as co-investment, we expect to see up to $1 billion flow to small towns and regional centres across the country over the next five years.

“We recognise that there are a number of regulatory and policy recommendations set out in the announcement aimed at addressing concerns raised during the consultation process. We will continue to work with government, industry, the ACCC and regional stakeholders on improving the experience we deliver our customers, “Mr Penn said.