Australian telco Vodafone is alleging that competitor Telstra has been falsely claiming their network is larger than it is for average consumers and that they have been misleading Australians for over a decade.

Vodafone, owned by TPG Telecom, is alleging misleading and deceptive conduct by Telstra over 15 years and has made a complaint to the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission.

It all stems from Telstra’s use of an “external antenna” to measure where they do and don’t have coverage.

Vodafone suggests that by using such an antenna, they may be overstating the geographic reach of the Telstra mobile network by as much as 40 per cent.

“This is alarming. It appears Telstra has tricked Australians into paying top dollar for coverage they simply can’t get on a regular mobile phone,” Kieren Cooney from TPG Telecom said.

“We are shocked that Telstra appears to have been overstating its coverage by so much for so long and we are calling on them to make it right.

“Telstra’s conduct could have misled consumers into believing they can get coverage in places that require special equipment.

“By overstating the coverage available to most Australians by such an enormous amount, Telstra and its resellers have no doubt retained customers or attracted customers that might otherwise have chosen Vodafone or other TPG Telecom brands such as TPG, Felix, Lebara and Kogan.”

Since raising this issue with Telstra, Vodafone also suggests that Telstra has already adjusted their marketing materials including how their network claims are portrayed on their website.

Core to Vodafone’s claim is that Telstra claims coverage of over three million square kilometres, when Vodafone suggests the actual coverage using a normal mobile phone without an external antenna or repeater is more like one million square kilometres.

This claim is critical to Vodafone’s competition in the market, having recently boosted their own coverage after a network sharing deal with Optus that sees them now reaching closer to or over one million square kilometres.

Telstra stands by their claim, pointing out that it is Vodafone who has changed the way they measure coverage.

“No matter how you look at it, Telstra’s mobile network covers more of Australia than any other. Any suggestion that we’ve misled the public about the size of our network is completely untrue,” a Telstra spokesperson told 9News.com.au.

“Using our coverage maps, customers have always been able to determine our level of coverage with and without an external antenna, so they always knew what to expect based on the device they’re using.

“Many customers in regional and remote areas benefit from using external antennas to maximise their coverage.

“This is why we have used this as the basis for our coverage footprint.

“Now that Vodafone has communicated to us how it’s chosen to calculate its coverage footprint, to help the public understand the difference, we’re highlighting that our three million square kilometres of coverage is based on using an external antenna.

“Using coverage maps, people can see the many towns, highways and places where we’ve invested to provide coverage and Vodafone hasn’t. We’re all for transparency and industry consistency in how we report coverage and would gladly put our maps up, side-by-side, so that Australians can see the difference.”