Mobile Black Spot Program Round 8—Project Noticeboard

Just off the Balonne Highway there is an old mains road camp site on top of a very high ridge.

This location would give wide coverage. With the approaching bush fire season telecommunications are going to be important.

At the recent Bush Fire meeting a mobile tower was mentioned as being of importance.

There appears to be a number of towers west of Cunnamulla yet there is a large area east of Cunnamulla without coverage.

Byfield, 41 kilometres from Yeppoon, is impacted by bushfires and cyclones. Cyclone Marcia caused widespread destruction and greatly impacted telecommunication services for a number of weeks.

The Byfield area is located in dense rainforest and residents experience periods of limited mobile phone coverage, which can be exacerbated by military operations at nearby Shoalwater Bay Training Area.

Telstra is supportive of upgrades.

Collinsville, located 273 kilometres north-west of Mackay, is experiencing lack of telecommunication services due to an increased volume of residents from renewable energy projects.

The region is also impacted by bush fires and cyclones.

Residents experience extreme difficulty in taking calls, sending messages and accessing internet services. In an event of a natural disaster could result in lack of access to information and placing additional pressure on emergency services.

Telstra supports the vital upgrades needed to restore service to Collinsville.

In the Barrington Station area, proximal to the Balonne Highway, there's an old Main Roads camp situated on a high ridge. This site would be ideal for a mobile black spot tower, as it is elevated and already has rural power access.

Installing a tower here would significantly improve mobile coverage in a currently underserved area, where connectivity is extremely limited or non-existent.

While there are towers west of Cunnamulla, a large area east of town remains without coverage. This stretch of road spans 182 kilometres with minimal to no mobile service, and with the bushfire season approaching, reliable telecommunications in this area are critical.

Thallon has thriving industries such as agriculture and tourism. The constant influx of workers and travellers swells the local population significantly, contributing to mobile tower congestion.

The tower is not fit for purpose for the growing demand for data services which is notably at capacity during the height of harvest and tourist season.

The Thallon community is prone to natural hazards including flooding, bushfires, drought, storms and heatwaves. During these heightened periods, access to information about road closures, emergency warnings, evacuation notices, river heights and access to general communications is vital.

The mobile phone coverage west of Charleville towards Quilpie has improved in the last number of years through Australian Government and carrier investment, but there are still some mobile black spots in strategically important areas - particularly closer to Charleville.

The Ward River is approximately 20 kilometres west of Charleville and is an important recreation, tourism and camping location but suffers from a lack of mobile coverage due to the topography being a river watercourse valley backed by a significant range of hills.

An additional mobile base station would enhance the highway coverage and safety of the popular recreation area.

Telstra Mobile Phone tower to be situated within the Morgan Park precinct, located on Old Stanthorpe Road, Warwick. Fibre Optic Cables are already in place, funded by Council, as well as an allocated parcel of land (by Council) to house the future mobile phone tower. Despite Morgan Park being located less than three kilometres from the Warwick CBD, the facility has no mobile service. The site is shovel ready for the establishment of a Telstra Mobile Phone Tower.

Hoyleton is a region of high primary production outputs and a commodity logistics corridor which has little to no mobile phone coverage. 

It is also home to the Mid North Primary Response Zone (PRZ) Aerotech base, a vital location for the standby and dispatch of aerial firefighting resources within PRZs, which are defined geographic areas of high bushfire risk where uncontrolled fires may have serious consequences for life, the community, and environmental or commercial assets.

Poor mobile service remains a major barrier for this vital regional emergency response asset.

Caltowie is situated between Gladstone and Jamestown in SA with a population of 122 people that swells to 1300 once a year for the Caltowie Chill Out'n'Fired Up Music Festival. It has very poor mobile coverage.

The ARTC Crystal Brook to Broken Hill line traverses Caltowie and six large freight trains traverse the centre of Caltowie daily, mobile coverage would be imperative in case of an accident. Caltowie hosts a popular RV camping site that attracts many campers, notably grey nomads who may need medical assistance. It is a well travelled thoroughfare between Laura/Gladstone and Jamestown.

Beetaloo Valley, Southern Flinders has a permanent population of 75 with a median age of 56. There is virtually no mobile coverage. A mixture of lifestyle and farming properties, the Valley supports diverse native vegetation including environmentally significant grassy woodlands. It abuts a National Park and has many city-based visitors expecting mobile phone coverage.

Due to the hot and dry climate and heavily wooded undulating terrain, bushfire risk is great. The 2014 Bangor fire threatened many properties and burned vast amount of land. All roads are unsealed and difficult to navigate. Without early warning, evacuation would be dangerous.

A small town (population of 41) in an isolated location between Appila and Orroroo with very limited mobile coverage. In addition to farming, Tarcowie has a phosphate mine with four employees, heavy mining equipment and 200 truck movements a year.

Lack of mobile coverage is a big safety concern as there are times when there are only one or two people on site who can’t be reached by phone and in the event of fire, which has happened, employees could not be warned as they were in a part of the mine which has no service.

Trucks struggle to communicate via phone and are not aware of each other’s movements and unable to ring before entering the mine.

Blanket Hill is home to a remote community in Wellington Shire. This location would give wide coverage to areas currently with no mobile service including Cowwarr and major camping grounds (Montana and Paradise Valley).

With the approaching bush fire season, telecommunications are going to be critical. The area has been subject to a number of weather events over the last 20 years including bushfires, damaging storms and flooding. This location is ideal sitting at 260 metres above sea level with 360 degrees uninterrupted line-of-sight.

This location (along with Seaton 3858) are both priority areas as identified by Telstra and the local community.

Howqua Valley, from Howqua Hills area to Howqua River at Lake Eildon still has many black spots. Residents number approximately 221, with 185 dwellings.

Summer visitation of 2000+, from Howqua River entrance at Lake Eildon to the Howqua Hills camping areas. There's a gravel road in/out that would likely fail in an evacuation.

Regardless of coverage maps there's little/ no connectivity on any given day and that ceases during high visitation. Recent network fail (28 October) lost 3 days of service.

Red Hill ridge is a strong contender for a tower, to enable connectivity or SMS warnings in an emergency.

The Mitchelton locality in central Victoria has poor mobile connectivity, hindering businesses, tourism, and emergency response. It hosts iconic wineries Tabilk and Mitchelton, thoroughbred farms, small farms, and a CFA station with limited access.

The locality sits astride the Goulburn River. Seasonal visitor peaks strain the network, and the area's vulnerability to bushfires and in particular serious floods, highlights the urgent need for reliable communications.

Installing a mobile tower will address these issues, enhancing safety, supporting economic growth, and unlocking the locality's potential.

Seaton is a remote area at the foothills of the Great Dividing Range in Wellington Shire. The area has been subjected to bushfires (2006, 2013) damaging storms (2021) and flooding (2023—November and December).

The area has very limited mobile coverage that impacted emergency services' ability to provide timely assistance to the community. The area is also the gateway for tourism to the high country where the mobile network is heavily relied upon in the event of emergencies.

Happy Valley runs between the Kiewa Valley and the Ovens Valley and is the main route from Falls Creek to Melbourne. There is a Telstra Blackspot on the north side of the ridge from near the Kiewa Valley Highway (GPS-36.5555, 147.0214) to the top of the ridge (GPS -36.5577, 146.9691). The Optus Blackspot exists on for most of the Happy Valley Road (GPS -36.5555, 147.0214 to GPS -36.5851, 146.915).

Lack of mobile phone coverage impacts economic activity, amenity for travelers and safety in a high bushfire risk area.

The proposed Mystic Mobile tower would service the existing Telstra blackspot in Wandiligong Valley which experiences high number of tourists in a high bushfire risk area as well as residents. Additionally this area has large number of visitors engaged in high risk activities including mountain biking and paragliding. Rescues in this area are hampered by lack of communications.

The new Mystic Tower would also increase mobile capacity which regularly fails during peak tourist season which sees visitor numbers increase tenfold in peak times. This tower would also provide much needed redundancy for the critical Apex Hill tower.

The town of Pingelly is in a mobile black spot as it is in a valley. The Shire of Pingelly conducted a series of mobile phone coverage surveys (phone and data) and no locations in 2024 even rated a ‘poor’ signal strength.

All locations were classified as ‘no signal’, with frequent disconnections experienced. The proposal is to locate a new tower in Pingelly which will provide a service comparable to other areas.

The community of Crossman has long advocated for a mobile phone tower to be built within their locality. The Albany Highway runs through Crossman and there is approximately 48km between a mobile phone tower at Bannister (North of Crossman) to the next tower located near the town of Williams (South of Crossman). This lack of service is concerning from an emergency management, economic development, and community perspective and the Shire is continuing to advocate for a mobile phone tower within Crossman and has identified it as a priority project with the Shire of Boddington Council Plan 2024 to 2034.