Dumbalk gets mobile green light

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Dumbalk gets mobile green light

 

DUMBALK residents enjoyed a celebratory morning tea yesterday (Monday) as the town awaits the activation of its mobile tower later this week.

The Telstra tower is set to be switched on this Thursday at the same time as a tower at Sandy Point.

Federal Member for McMillan Russell Broadbent joined in the celebrations with residents at the newly refurbished Dumbalk Community Centre, all of whom agreed the town would be better off with improved reception.

“This is a wonderful outcome for the Dumbalk and Sandy Point communities. Under the initial stages of the Round 1 Mobile Blackspot Programme a total of $8.51 million was invested on new or improved mobile coverage in McMillan,” Mr Broadbent said.

“We had 163 black spots nominated by local residents to be eligible for new or improved mobile coverage under the Mobile Black Spot Programme, with an initial announcement that 119 of those mobile black spots would receive coverage. I’m happy to say this number will continue to expand.”

“For Dumbalk and Sandy Point, the activation of these towers will alleviate legitimate safety fears felt by some residents. It’s been a long fight, but a fruitful one in the end.”

The active cooperation of the industry in the Mobile Black Spots Programme to date has been strong with 499 new or upgraded base stations covering around 3000 black spots already rolled out under Round 1 of the Coalition Government’s programme. This includes 11 new base stations to serve Sandy Point, Dumbalk, Strzelecki, Arawata, Dumbalk North, Mirboo, Mount Eccles, Outtrim, Waratah Bay, Kongwak and Trida.

“The Coalition Government understands the importance of mobile coverage in regional and remote areas of Australia. That is why we are committing an additional $60 million on top of the $160 million already invested in mobile black spots, bringing the Coalition’s total investment to $220 million,” Mr Broadbent said.

“We have selected these areas of the electorate because they have been overlooked by mobile network operators due to commercial factors. A re-elected Coalition government will invite mobile network operators to bid for this new funding to provide coverage in the identified locations.

“The Coalition is committed to improving mobile coverage along major transport routes, in small communities, as well as addressing unique mobile coverage problems such as areas with high seasonal demand.”

Dialling up: Federal Member for McMillan Russell Broadbent yesterday celebrated the impending activation of a Telstra mobile tower in Dumbalk.

Dialling up: Federal Member for McMillan Russell Broadbent yesterday celebrated the impending activation of a Telstra mobile tower in Dumbalk.

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Posted by on Jun 28 2016. Filed under News. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can leave a response or trackback to this entry

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