Areas along the Midland Hwy at Lima South will benefit from new and improved Telstra mobile coverage.
Telstra partly funded the project with assistance from the federal and state governments’ Mobile Black Spot Programs.
Telstra Regional General Manager Loretta Willaton said the new base station would improve on Telstra’s existing coverage in the area.
“Switching on this new mobile site removes a notorious black spot and brings dedicated Telstra mobile coverage to Lima South and this section of the Midland Hwy for the first time,” Ms Willaton said.
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“This new mobile site will provide improved 4GX mobile coverage and address coverage gaps around Lima South and along a section of the Midland Hwy.”
Federal Regional Communications Minister Mark Coulton welcomed the activation of the Lima South tower as the latest boost to connectivity in north-east Victoria.
“The government’s priority is to provide Australians with access to reliable communication, which is why we have committed $380 million to the Mobile Black Spot Program to improve mobile coverage and competition across regional and remote communities,” Mr Coulton said.
“This base station will give local residents access to better mobile coverage, helping them to stay connected with family and friends, access education services, and conduct business.
“This is one of more than 1200 new mobile base stations funded under the first five rounds of the program, with more than 910 of these base stations now on air.”
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Under the Mobile Black Spot Program Telstra, in partnership with local and state governments and the Federal Government, has delivered:
● More than 700 mobile base stations stretching from Eggs and Bacon Bay in Tasmania to the Pub With No Beer in NSW, the goldfields’ historical township of Walhalla in Victoria to Monkey Mia in Western Australia and from Weipa in Queensland to a remote sheep farm in Culla in western Victoria;
● New sites in remote central Australian indigenous communities encompassing the APY lands;
● More than 194,000 sq km of new or improved coverage nationally;
● More than 5600 km of new or improved highway coverage along some of Australia’s busiest, longest and most isolated highway trucking and tourism routes; and
● 220 Telstra-funded small cells that are delivering coverage to those harder-to-reach areas with smaller populations.
There have been more than 350 million calls sent or received to new black spot sites, 45,000 calls to emergency ‘000’, 36,000 TB downloaded and 3500 TB uploaded using 3G and 4G networks on new black spot sites.
After the latest round of the Federal Government’s Mobile Black Spot Program is completed, Telstra will have invested up to $290 million and built more than 880 new sites to improve coverage for regional areas around the country.
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