REGIONAL Queensland will soon know whether they will get access to a roaming service in Australia, with the ACCC commencing its inquiry into the matter.

Maranoa MP David Littleproud welcomed the developments, saying he had been disappointed that telcos like Telstra and Optus had failed to come together as an industry to consider a viable solution themselves.

"I've made it very clear - the telcos should get a fair return for the infrastructure investment they've made in rural Australia,” he said.

"I challenge them to tell consumers what that number is and let them decide whether they want to pay their provider for additional coverage, not be automatically told no”.

Mr Littleproud said national roaming would improve competition in regional areas like the Maranoa, since extra mobile phone towers were unlikely to be built.

"International experience in countries with similar population densities has shown that capital investment in infrastructure by larger carriers actually increased after domestic roaming was declared,” he said.

"But if Telstra believes international experience is wrong, I am happy for Telstra to tell me why that won't be the case here in Australia.”