Amajor telecommunications company has been “rattling the tin” among South East councils as it seeks financial support for the erection of mobile phone towers.
Most of the presentations by Telstra about so-called “black spots” have been held in closed session but a notable exception was the Tatiara District Council.
The minutes of its May 9 meeting reveal the four locations where Telstra is hopeful of getting funding from the three tiers of government and the private sector.
Telstra South Australian regional general manager Michael Patterson told The SE Voice continuous and reliable mobile connectivity was increasingly more important for regional Australians.
“While Telstra has the largest mobile network in regional South Australia, we know there are still many places where coverage or capacity could be improved,” Mr Patterson said.
“Traditionally these improvements have been done on a site-by-site basis.
“Telstra is currently consulting with a wide range stakeholders including the three levels of government, industry groups, regional development organisations and community groups to identify priority mobile blackspots in the Limestone Coast region and to build a co-investment business case to expand or improve our mobile network right across the South East.
“This will not only improve Telstra coverage, it will also expand Triple Zero connectivity in times of emergency for all networks.
“Once consultation has concluded in the next few weeks, we will have a better understanding of the key issues across the region and stakeholder willingness to participate in a regional submission for consideration as part of the Federal Government’s regional connectivity program.”
Meanwhile, Member for Barker Tony Pasin has recently met Mr Patterson and he has welcomed the lobbying of the seven South East councils by Telstra.
“A functional mobile phone service is no longer a luxury it is a necessary business tool and in the case of regional communities it is also a key piece of safety equipment,” Mr Pasin said.
“Achieving better mobile connectivity in regional Australia requires significant ongoing investment in mobile infrastructure.
“However, the commercial incentives for investing in regional Australia, particularly in areas of low population and undeveloped geographical areas, remain challenging and Government is justified in addressing the market failure for the betterment of regional communities.
“There is a direct correlation between the motivation of the community in addressing mobile black spots and the need to, and that’s why using a competitive, merit-based application process for Federal Government funding is important.
“It was incredibly disappointing that upon coming to Government last year Labor hand-picked a list of locations for the Improving Mobile Coverage Round of the Mobile Black Spots Program and 74% of these locations were in Labor held electorates.
“Locations where Federal Government funding is used to address black spots should not be hand-picked by a highly centralised Labor Government who does not understand the regions.
“All three levels of government should be working collaboratively with telecommunications companies and local communities to address black spots.
“Ideally, applications will be made to a competitive, merit-based process and in these cases, they are assessed more favourably where there is strong local support and co-funding from other sources.
“This is why I’m pleased to hear one of our major telcos is engaging with Local Government in the Limestone Coast to find solutions to local blackspots.”
