Australian users of about 70 dated Samsung handsets face being cut off from mobile service due to problems with their devices’ firmware, which exclusively attempts to route Triple Zero calls to the shuttered Vodafone 3G network.

Telstra revealed Tuesday that its testing of the handsets had shown that they were not connecting to Vodafone’s network when its own and Optus’ networks were not available.

The problem comes amid controversy about carriers' handling of Triple Zero calls since an emergency call service failure was linked to three fatalities.

It has led to blame-shifting among carriers who are facing increased pressure from the public, Canberra and regulators to shape up.

On Tuesday Telstra listed 71 Samsung handset models that, according to its testing, had the fault but stopp

See Full Page