General News
6 October, 2024
Residents call operator help in connectivity battle
NOTORIOUS Loddon phone blackspot towns have called in telcos to hear their complaints. Almost a year after the Loddon Herald started its Dial Us In campaign to improve telecommunications, Telstra and NBN will front a community meeting called by the...
NOTORIOUS Loddon phone blackspot towns have called in telcos to hear their complaints.
Almost a year after the Loddon Herald started its Dial Us In campaign to improve telecommunications, Telstra and NBN will front a community meeting called by the Newbridge, Arnold and Llanelly Community Plan Committee.
The October 14 meeting in Newbridge comes as Telstra on Monday started a complete rebuild of its mobile base station at Inglewood Nature Conservation Reserve to improve 4G services and 5G coverage.
Telstra says Newbridge is classed as a high-cost site as there are no existing towers close to the town.
Community plan committee president Helen Waite said poor telephone service in the area was “bad for business and disenfranchising the community”.
“The Government needs to realise that the more a community is disenfranchised, the more divided society becomes,” she said. “And that’s a major problem.”
The committee has previously written to local members of Parliament in their push for better connectivity that Ms Waite says is needed for community safety.
“We feel forgotten,” she said.
The State Government in August 2022 announced partnerships with telcos Optus and TPG Telecom to build a new tower and upgrade 13 mobile towers in the area from 4G to 5G through it Connecting Victoria program.
It said coverage would span Golden Square, Flora Hill and Kennington, as well as Epsom, Eaglehawk and Kangaroo Flat, and out to Newbridge.
However, details of work to improve service at Newbridge has not been confirmed. The Government said work would be finished by 2025.
Newbridge and Laanecoorie, popular tourist destinations, are notorious Loddon mobile phone blackspots.
Residents on the Wimmera Highway between Newbridge and Marong have also voiced frustration this year.
This week’s Inglewood works will see a series of temporary outages or reduction in mobile coverage until tomorrow, according to Telstra regional manager Steve Tinker.
Telstra gave customers one business day’s notice of possible disruptions, making the announcement last Thursday on the eve of the AFL grand final public holiday.
Mr Tinker said there would also be interruptions from this Saturday until next Wednesday during daylight hours “as we complete the integration of the new network and conduct the call testing”.