General News
23 November, 2024
Burgeoning trees sprouting signal resistance: technician
PETER Talbot says he is tired of the temporary solutions to the problems with phone reception in the area. The Inglewood man believes the effort so far is “not good enough, something needs to be done.” Peter has been fitting and repairing TV...
PETER Talbot says he is tired of the temporary solutions to the problems with phone reception in the area.
The Inglewood man believes the effort so far is “not good enough, something needs to be done.”
Peter has been fitting and repairing TV antennas for more than 30 years and has noticed the decline in TV and phone service over the past few years.
He said a significant factor in this decline was the change in landscape.
Following the rainfall over recent years tree growth has increased and become a physical barrier for phone signals.
“It was okay but now that the trees have grown so much on the west side of Inglewood, the signal is blocked.”
Peter said, the hilly landscape of the town did not help with the issue.
Peter finds he gets completely different signal depending on which side of a hill he is on.
And he said the lack of signal had been exacerbated by the upgrade from 3G to 5G.
While 5G is a faster connection, it has a far more limited range than previous iterations and is not able to travel far.
Currently there is only one cell tower in Inglewood, 8km away from the centre of town which Peter says is too far away for the signal to travel effectively and ensure good connections in town.
He has noticed recently he has been needing to add amplifiers to antennas of houses in Inglewood and surrounds to achieve a strong signal, something he rarely had to do when he began his work.
Peter has found he is having to spend more money just to complete his work, his original strength tester no longer sufficient.
“I’ve had to replace it and get a stronger version,” Peter said.
He is also concerned about people being unable to contact emergency services quickly if they are in a poor signal location.
“Now people are having to keep their landlines in case of an emergency” which he says is just another additional unnecessary cost for many.” he said.
Peter said he had attempted to contact service providers and the Department of Communications to request they rectify the problem however he felt he has not been listened to.
- RUBY HYLAND