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Telstra issues in Nevertire “unresolvable” By HARRIET GILMORE RESIDENTS of Nevertire are used to issues with mobile service, with the majority of the town forced to purchase expensive antenna boosters, on the advice of Telstra, to get any service. Now, these antennas have been rendered useless after the installation of an Optus tower on the edge of town two months ago. After much speculation the Optus tower could be the cause of the latest issues, with most residents reporting interrupted phone signals and little to no internet service, Telstra has confi rmed the new tower is blocking their signal and the issue is “unresolvable”. Nevertire resident Georgia Lawler spent countless hours on the phone to Telstra troubleshooting the problem, being passed from one department to the next department, until fi nally after three “escalations” she was told there was nothing Telstra could do to fi x the problem unless they built a new tower in Nevertire. “It’s extremely frustrating. Telstra have said there is no plans in the future for a tower in Nevertire and the only solution I was offered was to change providers. But the
problem is the Optus network isn’t as extensive as Telstra. I have to change providers to get service at home, but once I start travelling further in the region, Optus loses range. So, what’s the solution?” Mobile coverage in regional Australia is not an isolated incident, with a recent inquiry by the Australian Consumer and Competition Commission (ACCC) fi nding 78 per cent of respondents considered mobile coverage in their area poor, very poor or had none at all. Regional politicians have been calling for telcos to “share” towers and infrastructure in regional Australia to boost coverage areas or offer a roaming service especially during natural disasters, however the ACCC report has found most towers in remote areas appear to be at capacity or are only built to support one carrier. Although towers in urban areas are built to accommodate multiple carriers, “in remote areas, it is less likely that a new tower will be built with capacity to support more than one tenant” due to higher costs because of the “need to upgrade or strengthen towers”. The ACCC said Telstra and
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Optus have made significant network investments in regional, rural and remote areas in order to differentiate on geographic coverage and gain or maintain market share in the national mobile market. Sharing a tower would not benefit them fi nancially as they increase their revenues with exclusive use. The Warren Shire Council have also expressed their frustrations with telecommunication facilities within the Shire and have continued to “press Telstra”. General Manager Gary Woodman said in regard to Nevertire and other locations, “Council has been attempting to get the Telstra Corporation to install mobile telephone and perhaps data equipment on these (already installed towers) towers to improve the telecommunications within the Shire. Optus have started to make arrangements but there has been no movement yet by Telstra.” Field Solutions Group, the organisation that installs towers has plans to eventually put a number of new towers up throughout the Shire, however whether they will have both Telstra and Optus capabilities New Optus tower in Nevertire blamed for Telstra issues. PHOTO: WARREN STAR. is unknown.
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