In the July edition of the Voice, we wrote an article describing the issue of mobile phone black spots in the Valley. We also launched an online poll to gauge the community’s interest in having another tower constructed.
Of the 175 responses we received, there were 132 valid (non-duplicate) responses. We didn’t receive enough responses to complete the original mapping exercise, but it did show that there are many mobile phone black spots across the Valley – it is extremely unlikely that one new tower will fix all the problems.
As far as the other data collected from the survey, the first question asked you to rate the mobile phone reception quality at your property. Here are the results:
The “Mostly Good” category received 30 votes (23%). If we combine all the other categories, which indicate unacceptable coverage, they total 102 votes (77%). Clearly there is a widespread issue with mobile phone reception in the Valley.
The second question asked “Getting better mobile reception will require more towers. Would you be ‘for’ or ‘against’ a mobile phone tower being erected near you to achieve better reception?”. It appears that ¾ of us are ‘for’ an extra tower.
The third and final question was “The next generation of mobile phone technology is known as 5G. It won’t fix blackspots on its own but will significantly improve ‘bandwidth’. It has had a lot of bad press recently – most of it not backed up by scientific data. Are you ‘for’ or ‘against’ 5G mobile phone coverage coming to Kangaroo Valley?”. This is what we thought:
So it also seems we have an appetite for newer phone technology.
Whilst working with The Department of Infrastructure, Transport, Regional Development and Communications and Telstra, it appears the big issue is finding a location for the tower. The KVCCB met with the Federal Member for Gilmore, Fiona Phillips, in mid-September to garner support to help break the stalemate. She is going to arrange a meeting with the Regional Director from Telstra to hopefully help forge a path forward.
The basic requirements for a mobile phone tower site are:
- Reasonable elevation to maximise coverage
- Flattish 25-50 square metre parcel of land
- 24/7 access to site
- Close proximity to mains power
- Proximity to transmission infrastructure (e.g. fibre cable or microwave tower)
- Negotiable fees to landowner.
If you own a property that you think would be a good place to erect a mobile phone tower (and you are agreeable to it happening), please email us at kvccb-mobiles@kangaroovalley.nsw.au with the details and we will pass them on.
Lastly, if you want to be added to the KVCCB mailing list (which covers more than just mobiles) please send your details (including property address, contact number and email address) to kvccb@kangaroovalley.nsw.au and we will ensure you are added. Our next General Meeting is Tuesday 29 November 2022 at 6:30pm in the Kangaroo Valley Hall.
Al Lockyer
Mobile Phone Coverage Working Group Chair
Kangaroo Valley Community Consultative Body
