Telstra fixes tower issue after three years

The bane of Australian communications is Telstra.

They deliberately limit people connecting to the internet via other service providers.

A country whose internet speed rating is falling every year and embarrassingly slower than other third wold countries.

Here is an example of Telstra's (deliberate) incompetence, as described by adelaidenow.com.au

Faulty Adelaide Hills phone tower fixed three years after issue

A FAULTY phone tower that left Hills residents without service during power outages has been fixed by Telstra three years after the issue first arose.

As reported by The Advertiser on January 12, residents feared lives were being put at risk because Telstra’s Inglewood phone tower would fail whenever power was cut, leaving them unable to call for help during emergencies.

It was believed a faulty back-up battery was to blame for the problem.

Locals said outages, caused by either planned maintenance, storm damage, accidents or fallen trees, would plunge Inglewood as well as parts of Houghton and Paracombe into a telecommunications blackout.

They said a lack of phone services during power outages had been an issue since the Sampson Flat bushfires in January 2015 but complaints to the telco had fallen on deaf ears.

Following queries from The Advertiser earlier this month, Telstra said it would replace the back-up battery system at the Inglewood tower.

On Tuesday, the company installed the new batteries at the tower.

“In the event of any short term power outages, the upgraded battery supply will enable mobile phone services for local residents to continue for several hours until the electricity supply is restored,” Telstra spokesman Mark Bolton said.

“Improving battery life capacity will extend mobile coverage and communications for local residents when the power supply is cut.

“However, in disaster situations such as bushfires it will not guarantee continuous mobile coverage due to the potential for damage to other transmitting infrastructure required to connect the base station to the broader Telstra network.”

Inglewood Inn manager Milly Howell, 27, said it was “great” action had finally been taken to rectify the issue.

“It’s going to be a huge weight off our shoulders next time we get a blackout,” she said.
“It is definitely a relief and I know a lot of people in the community will be really happy.”

However, fellow Inglewood resident Kerrilyn-Jodie Bridges, 48, was concerned the new batteries would not have the capacity to outlast power outages in the area.

“I’m glad it’s (been) done – We will have that four hours (of phone service) but after that we’ll still be stuffed but it’s the same everywhere,” she said.

Most people in the area used Telstra because it generally offered the best reception in the area.