Telstra seeks sites for five new 5G towers in Moranbah and Dysart

Telstra is currently in the design and site selection process of a $3.5M Digital Connectivity Project. Find out if your town will benefit.

A $3.5 million 5G tower project will make lagging internet and spotty phone reception a thing of the past for Moranbah and Dysart residents.

In partnership with BHP, Telstra and Greater Whitsunday Alliance, Isaac Regional Council Division 2 councillor and Smart Transformation Advisory Council (STAC) project lead Sandy Moffat said community consultation would be carried out by her team before a development application was sent to council.

Dysart resident and STAC member Sandy Moffat has long pushed for better Telstra connection within Dysart and Moranbah.

“Service has been an issue. I’ve been banging on about it for years because where we are … our internet has been very unreliable,” Ms Moffat said.

“Covid really highlighted the fact we didn’t have the capacity for our kids to do homeschooling, for businesses to run from home, for our members and part time community members in (mine) camps to contact their families.

“Everyone was connecting at the same time and it couldn’t take the load.

“It highlighted to major stakeholders and Telstra in particular that we really need to start getting better coverage in all regions.

Ms Moffat said the project, which is in the design and site selection phase, could be used as a trial to roll out more towers across the state.

“We’ve been working in conjunction with BHP to try and get our community ready for the shift in employment before the Fourth Industrial Revolution (involving artificial intelligence),” she said.

“The project itself involves five new towers or sub towers coming into Dysart and Moranbah, to increase our capacity and enable our community to access faster, stronger internet.

“At the moment, Telstra have people on the ground doing site selections, and we’re putting proposals together to put to council for a development application.”

Telstra 5G is available in Dysart through one tower located in the middle of town.

Telstra and BHP have provided joint funding of $3.5 million towards the project.

“GW3 are managing the project and once the (approval) goes through, they’ll start getting the towers built and hopefully we’ll have the towers switched on next June/July,” Ms Moffat said.

Currently, Dysart has a tower near the primary school in the centre of town.

The proposed towers will be strategically located at either end of the town to boost capacity.

Moranbah will also receive three new towers, in addition to its current two.

“On behalf of the community, we really appreciate the fact major corporations like BMA BHP and Telstra have really come on board to help our community.”