Action on mobile phone reception for Boat Harbour residents

After years of enduring poor reception, broken promises and lobbying from government officials, the long-suffering residents have been given new hope.

"Basically it has been a local power availability issue and we've been waiting for the supply to be upgraded to the site. As it hasn't been strong enough, we haven't been able to turn on all the capacity. This has now been done, so should be working at full strength in a couple of weeks," a Telstra spokesperson stated.

Asked to define a couple of weeks, the spokesperson added: "If no unexpected issues arise, we expect works to be completed by mid-May."

For Optus users, a spokesperson said that Optus had invested in a new mobile tower in Boat Harbour to provide improved network coverage and capacity.

"Construction on the site has commenced, but we have experienced some delays due to recent inclement weather. Optus will continue to work with the community to minimise any disruptions during the construction process, with services expected to go live in mid-2021."

The responses from the telephone companies followed a meeting on Friday organised by Boat Harbour resident Chris Muir and attended by around 20 residents, with many expressing total frustration in the fact that there was still no upgraded coverage more than 12 months after the Telstra phone tower was constructed.

Mr Muir, who has lived in Boat Harbour for more than five years, said that residents were constantly being told by the mobile phone carriers and politicians that the phone reception would be coming soon.

"Last week the power was out at home so my repeater was not working and I had no phone reception at all. I work for an international company and constantly lose communication. This is not good enough."

Another resident Vince Duffy said that he began lobbying [former Liberal MP] Bob Baldwin years ago and the problems were still not fixed.

"For me I have to drive up to the top of the hill to get reception. I shudder to think what could happen in an emergency."

Other residents say they fear for those people who rely on Vital Call and other emergency phone devices.

"If the power goes out they are vulnerable. And over at Solace Park [in boat Harbour] the suicide prevention group has on display the Lifeline number ... well it's not much good if you can't get reception."

In a statement to the Examiner, Telstra's regional general manager Mike Marom reiterated that the delay had been in the upgrade of the local power supply.

"Due to this we were only able to partially activate it with our 4GX technology. While it provided new and improved coverage to the Fishermans Bay, Anna Bay and Boat Harbour areas, it has not yet delivered the additional 4G capacity planned," he said.

"The power authority completed the necessary power upgrade earlier this month and Telstra is now working to schedule the full activation of our base station in the coming weeks. We apologise for the delay taken to complete this project."

Optus added that it uses customer feedback and its own analysis to identify the best area to ensure improved voice and data services, including the topography.

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