By Ethan Benedicto
Residents of Clyde, Clyde North and surrounds are finally receiving their long-awaited upgrades on cell reception, with Telstra and Optus confirming new towers – some within the year.
Ari Ross, a worker at Clyde North’s Deoro Cafe said “it’s about time”.
“I live just down the road, and I only have one bar in my whole house it’s terrible, so I think it’s about time honestly,” she said.
Her difficulties are well-known and a common sentiment for a majority of residents in Clyde and Clyde North, with Maree Cullinan, executive officer at Balla Balla Community Centre saying that “we agree that community members are very frustrated with the lack of coverage in the area”.
A Telstra spokesperson told 9News last week that three projects are currently underway as part of the Connecting Victoria Mobile program to improve 4G and 5G connectivity in the local area.
With two new mobile stations and an upgrade for an existing one in the books, the spokesperson said that “Telstra expects to have one new mobile base station in Clyde East constructed during May and operational by the end of June this year”.
Optus is in the same boat, with three new sites operational in the last year and covering parts of Casey Stadium and Clyde North.
“We are working hard to bring residents of Casey improved mobile coverage,” an Optus spokesperson said.
“Optus is working on an additional eight towers in the area – seven of these are part of the Connecting Victoria Mobile Program to improve mobile connectivity in Clyde, including Clyde North, Cranbourne, Berwick and Hallam.”
For Ms Ross, the additional towers are more than just a weight off her shoulders, lamenting that “I can’t FaceTime my parents, I can’t call anyone, I can’t watch [on] too many devices at once – if I’m on my TV and my phone and my laptop, one of them will stop working”.
“[For] the whole Clyde area, all the houses have gone up, and they just haven’t accommodated to even retail, internet, traffic or anything, everything’s just taking such a long time to come together,” she said.
Ms Cullinan added that “many are still working from home and this is nearly impossible when the service is unreliable”.
“We look forward to new base stations being put in place as well as upgrades that will service the area of Clyde North which is expanding at a rapid pace,” she said.
Provided to 9News also last week, a council spokesperson said that they are working closely with the State Government and telecommunications providers in order to address the infrastructure and servicing gaps throughout the municipality, especially for Clyde and Clyde North.
“A total of two mobile towers (and one broadband solution) and four mobile towers have been identified to be delivered and service Clyde and Clyde North, with several of these towers already being delivered or having received relevant approvals before construction.
“Casey has issued 12 planning permits for new towers in the last year, six of which are all in Clyde/Clyde North,” the spokesperson said.
Additionally, the Federal Government’s announcement of the updated Telecommunications in New Developments (TIND) Policy was announced on 17 February this year, which provides extra guidance on the development sector’s “responsibility to ensure new communities are serviced with mobile telecommunication infrastructure”.
“Council welcomes the TIND Policy announcement and has been advocating with industry stakeholders in formalising this policy position locally, whilst working in partnership with the development sector to more proactively plan for mobile telecommunications infrastructure for new projects,” the council spokesperson said.
