Residents of a small Queensland town say telecommunications are so poor that phone calls, the internet, EFTPOS and cash machine withdrawals stop for days at a time.
Tambo pub owner Ben Casey said it was getting progressively worse.
“In the last two to three months we had six weeks of no ADSL landline internet, we had two weeks of no landline phones and we’ve had more than four times where the mobiles have gone out for almost 24 hours,” he said.
He said the town’s businesses, residents and tourists had become used to frequent mobile and internet outages.
But in a town of 300 people that relied on tourism to survive, businesses said the outages often left travellers unable to call for accommodation and pay electronically for goods.
Rebecca Hendel, a mum of four children under six, said the outages left her feeling fearful.
She said she worked night shifts at Mr Casey’s pub.
“When Telstra goes down, my husband can’t contact me,” Ms Hendel said.
“It stresses me out a lot.”
From copper wires to low orbit satellites and a looming 3G shutdown, the patchwork of old and new technology has left some regional Australian towns falling through the gaps.
It was not just Tambo, the issues have been felt in many communities across regional Australia.
Blackall-Tambo Regional Council Mayor Andrew Martin said the number of outages was “disturbing.”
“If it happened in the middle of Brisbane there’d be a national disaster declared,” he said.
Some people have opted for alternative connectivity choices but many people haven’t been aware of their options.
Mr Casey recently switched from ADSL to Starlink.
He said it had been a saving grace for the pub but doubled his bill.
Who is responsible?
Telstra has advised some customers to improve their mobile coverage by using an NBN or other broadband connection to access Wi-Fi calling.
“We also encourage business owners talk to their bank about connecting their EFTPOS terminals to their NBN or Wi-Fi connection,” Telstra regional general manager May Boisen said.
The Regional Tech Hub was created in 2020 as an independent service funded by the federal government to help people in regional and rural Australia navigate their options.
General manager Jennifer Medway said the hub received hundreds of calls a week, with many affected consumers asking “who is responsible?”
“Most people, if they’re talking electricity, just want to flip the switch on and away they go. In telecommunications and particularly the internet that isn’t the case,” she said.
3G shutdown issues
Ms Medway said many callers to the hub reported decreased mobile signal or outages as the 3G shutdown neared.
“While they’re working all that out we are hearing a lot of people are experiencing challenges,” Ms Medway said.
A Telstra spokesperson said upgrading and replacing key equipment required turning off base stations for a couple of days.
“That work has been happening across Australia over the last few years and we are on track to have all our mobile base stations finished before we close our 3G network,” they said.
What are the options?
Ms Medway said people needed to arm themselves with information.
“Waiting for government or others to come and resolve some of these problems is unrealistic,” she said.
“If you are sitting there and you’re having frequent outages or don’t have service that fits your lifestyle or business … there are options.”
For internet connections they include different satellite options, a fixed NBN wireless network, a non-NBN fixed wireless, or an older ADSL type of broadband.
The head of NBN Local Queensland, Kylie Lindsay, said the amount of choice could be overwhelming.
“What people need to do is educate themselves, they need to look at what their needs are and how they rely on the internet,” she said.
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