Communications

In the lead up to the 150th Anniversary of the first telegraph being sent from Australia, the Royal Australian Mint has released a unique $1 coin that depicts the Overland Telegraph Line running through the centre of Australia, from Port Augusta to Darwin.

Samuel Davis. Planned upgrades to "notoriously unreliable" telecommunications services have been cautiously welcomed by Cape York leaders. The Torres Cape Indigenous Councils Alliance was briefed by Telstra on upcoming major works earlier this month, including a plan to introduce a 4G network in Lockhart River starting next year. But mayor Wayne Butcher said lives will remain at risk until mobile phone reception improves in the area.

A Telstra telecommunications facility will be constructed on Keding Road at Westbrook following approval by Toowoomba Regional Council, providing improved reception, 4G and 5G services ... The application was submitted by Ventia Australia Pty Ltd on behalf of Amplitel Pty Ltd.

The Telecommunications Industry Ombudsman (TIO) has released a report highlighting the key drivers behind complaints about mobile services. The report is in response to a shift in complaint trends, with mobile services becoming the dominant complaint type. Between July 2020 and March 2022, the TIO received over 63,000 complaints about mobile services.  

More than three years after it was first announced, the Archer River Roadhouse has a mobile phone tower. Member for Leichhardt Warren Entsch made the announcement in early 2019 that Archer River was getting a phone tower under the federal government’s blackspot program.

Minister for Environment James Griffin said the NSW Biodiversity Conservation Trust (BCT) has entered into a partnership with Telstra in what will be the first of many agreements between landholders, the private sector and philanthropists to conserve land ... The BCT offers conservation agreements to landholders, which permanently protect existing native landscapes on private land in NSW.

Lockhart River won’t see a fix to their telecommunications for at least a year, although the wait could be even longer. Despite last week’s announcement that Telstra would be awarded $3.5 million to improve the mobile phone networks in Lockhart River, Seisia and Cooktown, there is no plan in place to make it happen.

Three Cape York communities will today be announced as recipients of federal funding as part of the government’s Regional Connectivity Program. Lockhart River, Seisia and Cooktown will all benefit from a combined $3.5 million to fix their broken or nonexistent telecommunications infrastructure. And the good news for locals in those communities is that it isn’t dependent on the election result – the funding is in the budget.

The Northern Territory Space Strategy 2022-2026 builds on the success of Territory Space industry 2020 and establishes a vision for the Northern Territory to be recognised as the home of high altitude pseudo-satellites in the Indo-Pacific region, Australia’s premier space launch location and a leading regional centre for ground station facilities.

Lockhart River mayor Wayne Butcher is hoping a close federal election race in Leichhardt will be the catalyst for a major upgrade to the town’s disgraceful telecommunications network ... “We are not asking for 5G like the cities, we are simply asking for a reliable 4G service ... There is a lack of understanding in the capital cities about how bad we have it here.”

Yanchep, Yanchep East, Gingin, Lancelin and Guilderton are all set to benefit from infrastructure upgrades to mobile network sites designed to improve mobile phone services for communities during emergencies. One hundred and forty-one infrastructure upgrades in WA will be funded as part of the second round of the Commonwealth mobile network hardening program, worth $10.9 million.