Nominate a mobile black spot

THE deadline for government funding to fix mobile black spots is approaching fast, and residents across the country are encouraged to make sure they have nominated the worst spots in their area. 

Round two of the Mobile Black Spots Program closes on January 15, with the federal government committing $60 million to improve coverage in areas reported to have poor or no mobile coverage.

The areas to be funded will be selected from the database of mobile black spot areas, nominated by members of the public. The areas are those with poor or no mobile coverage. 

In round one, announced in June 2015, there were 499 mobile base stations to be affected by $100 million in funding. The stations were to either be built or upgraded. 

The Commonwealth funding for round one was supplemented by Telstra and Vodafone.

In addition, five state governments have co-contributed towards round one, including 24 million from NSW, $21 million from Victoria, $10 million from Queensland, $32 million from Western Australia and $0.35 million from Tasmania. The total funding package also included $1.7 million from local governments, businesses and community organisations.

Visit www.communications.gov.au/blackspots to nominate a mobile black spot by January 15.

Parkes MP Mark Coulton said mobile black spots throughout north and western NSW were putting people at risk on the region's roads.

"The further west you go, the greater the chance of there being no coverage," Mr Coulton said. "The main thing is to get the main roads and highways covered.

"Wanaaring is a village 200 kilometres west of Bourke and the locals there have been calling for a tower for ages - they believe there are safety issues there and there's quite a few tourists coming through the town as well."

Mr Coulton said the more nominations the government received, the more likely it would be for a black spot to be fixed.

"I would encourage people to put in their nominations because the more nominations for the one particular spot the better the case is for putting a tower up in that area," he said.

Six years ago, Alpine Shire’s Cr Jan Vonarx was part of a community resilience committee advocating for better mobile reception following major fires.

Those 2009 fires were to be known as Black Saturday and burned through more than 30,000 hectares of the shire’s land.

“There was no coverage at all,” Cr Vonarx told The Border Mail about trying to use a mobile phone on Black Saturday. “If another fire came through, it would happen again.”

Alpine Shire was hoping Kancoona could finally win funding in round two of the federal government’s mobile blackspot program in 2016.

“In this day and age, there should be communication for everyone, especially in bushfire-prone areas,” Cr Vonarx said.

Tathra’s Rob White has been deeply involved in the process to get black spot funding and said he was told after a visit by Telstra to the coastal town it will miss out until new technologies are developed to deal with the blackspot issue.

Mr White said the current infrastructure is not enough to cope with the influx of summer tourists.

“The coverage is appalling here and so is the broadband at the moment,” he said.

“For two full days there was no ADSL either so we’re really struggling out here.

“Telstra told us a new tower will cost a million dollars.

“We were told emphatically we missed out because we have ‘some’ service.”

Wannon MP Dan Tehan said the program’s new second round closing date would ensure individuals and community groups in Wannon had enough time to get their nominations in after the festive season. 

“The new date reflects the significant demand for improved mobile coverage in rural, regional and remote Australia,” he said.

Scotts Creek and Hawkesdale have so far been identified as black spot areas requiring upgrades, Mr Tehan said.

“There have been three key spots identified – some near Hawkesdale, one west of Hamilton and the rest are in the northern part of electorate,” he said.

“There are a lot around the Central Goldfields Shire near Maryborough and the Pyrenees Shire, so it is an issue which is a lot more prevalent in the northern part of the electorate than the south, in terms of feedback.