Black spots, satellites and Elon: new technology could fill Australia’s mobile gaps – but can it be relied on?

The perennial problem facing Australia is its sheer size and whether it is cost-effective to build towers for places with low populations. Labor plans to introduce a universal outdoor mobile obligation. Photograph: Richard Wainwright/AAP

Bernie Byrnes, a farmer from the southern tablelands of New South Wales, can tell when he is about to hit a mobile black spot on a highway.

“There’s spots on the side of the highway where reception falls out. And you can see it if you’re familiar with the vehicles that travel. People will pull over in the same spot to finish a conversation, finish a meeting. And you know that they’re familiar with the reception there,” he says.