Community pressure has resulted in Telstra keeping in place a temporary mobile phone base station, placed in Tathra during last month’s bushfire, until the construction of a new permanent small cell is complete.
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Known as a Cell on Wheels, or COW, the mobile base station is generally used to provide extra temporary cellular network coverage for high-profile events and emergency services.
“As part of our response to the bushfires in Tathra we deployed a temporary Cell on Wheels in the town to help support services in the area,” Telstra area general manager Chris Taylor said on Friday.
“Based on community feedback about mobile coverage in the area, the Cell on Wheels will remain in place in the short term while we construct a new permanent small cell to boost 4G mobile coverage in Tathra in the coming weeks.”
Friday’s announcement now means Tathra will have two 4G Small Cells installed, one built through the federal government’s Mobile Black Spot Program to service the northern area of the town, and one built by Telstra near the current exchange to service the southern area.
Mr Taylor said the temporary station was scheduled to be removed this week, as restoration works were completed, and the decision was made to keep it “after normal service was restored to help with Easter tourism and restoration efforts”.
“In normal situations, the temporary base station is removed as soon as coverage is restored and redirected to other communities in need of assistance,” Mr Taylor said.
According to Telstra, the Tathra tower was damaged and downstream mains power to the tower was lost at 1.30pm on March 18, before back up batteries kept the service running for another three hours before full service was lost.
A diesel generator was used to restore power at service to the tower at 1pm the following day, and the fire-damaged tower later repaired, Mr Taylor said.
Before Friday’s announcement Mr Taylor said he appreciated “there are ongoing community concerns regarding limited mobile coverage to some parts of Tathra”, and the company was “committed” to expanding Tathra’s infrastructure.
He said the company will confirm the installation date of the second small cell in coming days.
Member for Bega Andrew Constance said on Friday he was grateful to Telstra for the decision.
Mr Constance thanked federal communications minister Mitch Fifield and Liberal Senator Jim Molan for their input in the process.
The Bega MP said he contacted Mr Fifield on Thursday morning, and said he was grateful for his assistance in addressing Tathra's mobile communications issues.
"They're now looking to bolster some capacity with small cells and possibly another base station," Mr Constance said.
