Telstra unveils 500th mobile black spot base station at Clarence

Clarence Rural Fire Service deputy captain Henry Kirwan said that communication was of vital importance when fires hit the area. 

“The residents had no way of knowing, normally they send SMS texts out for emergencies but because of the lack of coverage a lot of people weren’t getting the texts and we weren’t getting up-to-date news,” he said.

This will all change as Telstra unveiled its 500th mobile base station under the Federal Government’s mobile black spot program. 

The base station will provide 3G and 4G coverage for the Clarence Railway Station, which is home of the Zig Zag railway, and the surrounding area. 

Mr Kirwan said that, with the tower, they were able to fight fires on the plateau and feel safe, knowing that if they ran into any problems, such as truck radio black spots, they could call on the mobile phones. 

“The truck radio might be in a spot where it can’t pick up anything and also there are times when you may want to speak to the control centre and what you are talking about might be a little bit circumspect, a little bit private, and you speak over the radio and everybody hears what you are saying,” he said.

“So if you have somebody who has been hurt, say we have a fire-fighter who has been hurt, you would use your mobile phone to call it in, otherwise everybody knows what’s going on and sometimes it’s nicer to keep certain bits of information between two people.” 

Telstra and both the Federal and NSW Governments have contributed funding for the Clarence base station. 

“This base station will provide a new world of connectivity for the Clarence community and it will also support the many tourists who will be visiting the Zig Zag Railway once it reopens to the public,” Telstra CEO Andy Penn said. 

Mr Penn said Telstra’s 500^th new base station under the Federal Government’s Mobile Black Spot program was a significant milestone. 

Parliamentary Secretary for Western NSW Rick Colless said the development demonstrated the NSW Government’s commitment to eliminating mobile black spots across the State, to help ensure better access to mobile coverage for people in regional NSW. 

“This upgrade is going to make a real difference for people living and working in the Clarence district as well as travellers traversing the Blue Mountains via the Bell’s Line of Road,” Mr Colless said. 

“Local businesses will be able to operate without interruption caused by phone calls dropping out and many Bells Line of Road users are business operators from further west in NSW travelling to and from Sydney on a regular basis in the pursuit of their businesses. 

“The people of Clarence, Lithgow and centres further west deserve reliable mobile coverage and this tower means locals and travellers can access fast mobile data services for the first time.” 

Lithgow mayor Cr Ray Thompson said that it was absolutely amazing to finally have mobile coverage on the scenic hill. 

“This has been a black spot for so long, it's been unbelievable, as soon as you get on top of the scenic hill you have no coverage whatsoever,” he said. 

“It’s only going back four to five years when we had the major bush fire come here that stopped this great tourism attraction and at that particular time I remember coming here up to Clarence and there wasn’t any communication and we had major bush fires going through this part of the country.”

Lee Wiggins, Zig Zag Railway chairman, said the mobile tower had already come in handy for works on the railway. 

Read more: 

“Mobile coverage and effective communications is critical for the railway operations themselves, so that is going to help us out significantly,” he said. 

Mr Wiggins said he has spoken to Telstra about options for extending the mobile coverage into the valley. 

“They are looking at ways they may be able to help us with that as well, it’s been very, very beneficial. We have up to 60,000 visitors per year when we are operational and now people will be able to get a signal,” he said. 

Member for Calare Andrew Gee said that this particular mobile tower was vital because it was at the gateway of the Central West. 

“I think this mobile phone tower is terrific for Clarence and the Lithgow area. It's right here at the gateway to the Central West on the Bells Line of Road, so it’s a vital artery for tourism, for commerce, for people getting to Sydney for all sorts of reasons, so I think this is really vital.”

Mr Gee said it was important for communications in all types of emergencies, including fires and road accidents.

"All sorts of emergencies crop up in the bush so we know how important these mobile towers are and 500 towers with Telstra is something to celebrate," he said. 

“We’ve got 867 towers now under the federal governments mobile black spot funding program, that’s an investment of $220 million dollars, it covers 204,000 square kilometres but whilst we are celebrating this tower here in Clarence the work needs to continue.

“We have one of the biggest countries on the planet in Australia and so clearing up mobile black spots doesn’t stop at 500 Telstra towers, we have to keep it going this year, next year and for a long time after that until we get rid of them all.”