In recent months, there have been a significant amount of issues raised with mobile coverage in Mortdale and Oatley. It is very important that local residents and small businesses are able to access a quality mobile service. Federal Member for Banks, David Coleman, has been seeking to get these issues fixed on behalf of residents. The current situation is described below.
Mortdale
Construction works at the Mortdale Hotel have led to Telstra disabling mobile towers located at the hotel during the working week. This has caused significant disruption to mobile reception in Mortdale. Mr Coleman has been calling on Telstra to better manage this situation. As of 24 April, Telstra has agreed to switch back on 2 of the 3 mobile towers located at the Mortdale Hotel, 7 days a week. This will substantially reduce mobile coverage issues in Mortdale. Telstra has advised that the final tower, will be switched back on by June. This will return coverage to the level it was at before the disruption.
Oatley
Mobile coverage issues have been ongoing for some time at Oatley. These issues are particularly significant in Oatley West. Mr Coleman has been in regular contact with Telstra on this issue. The company accepts that coverage in Oatley is inadequate, and action must be taken. In response to David’s request, Telstra has committed to putting in additional infrastructure in Oatley. It is expected that this infrastructure will be put in place in the near future.
“Mobile coverage is a necessity for local residents and the situation in Mortdale and Oatley has been simply not good enough. The Mortdale issue has now improved and should be fully resolved soon. In Oatley I will continue to call on Telstra to address this issue until it is fixed. I will keep Oatley residents updated on further developments on mobile coverage in the area. Thank you to everyone who has been in touch with me on this issue,” Mr Coleman said.