Vodafone, a part of TPG Telecom, alleges that Telstra has been engaging in misleading and deceptive practices for 15 years, prompting them to file a complaint with 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.

According to Vodafone, Telstra may be exaggerating the geographical coverage of its mobile network by up to 40 percent through the use of certain antennas.

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.”