Back online: Phone and internet reception to return to fire affected Hills homes by end of week
After two months of limited to no mobile and internet connection, Telstra customers in Mount Torrens will be reconnected to the grid, following the complete rebuild of a service tower destroyed by the Cudlee Creek fire.
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Telstra customers in Mount Torrens will be reconnected to the grid from this Sunday after two months of limited to no mobile and internet connection.
The area’s network tower was severely damaged during the December 20 Cudlee Creek fire, which saw one person killed and 85 homes destroyed.
Regional General Manager for Telstra SA, Mark Bolton, who inspected the site on Wednesday, said the damage served as a reminder that technology was not always reliant during a bushfire crisis.
“This is a shining example that you can’t rely on technology alone during a disaster and that
communication networks can break down during a bushfire,” he said.
“Of course we try our best when the network is down, but in this case the equipment was severely damaged.
“As a result we had to order in new parts and equipment, which is why the whole process has been taking so long.
“Thankfully this was the only tower that was burned out during the fires.”
Mr Bolton said Tesltra crews had been working non-stop to repair the tower, which included a complete rebuild of network drives.
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He expects customers, which includes residents in Foreston, Charleston and Lobethal, to have full access to their service by the end of the week.
“We’re doing final works now and will turn the system back on today, then do some fine tuning and hopefully it’s back up and running by the end of the week,” he said.
“The only other thing people should be aware of is that we’ll be upgrading the radio capacity in four weeks.
“What that means for customers is that we’ll increase their data speed three times then it currently is. So essentially, the internet will be faster.”