The suburb where you have to leave your house to make calls
Driving through this busy Sydney suburb you’re likely to spot locals taking their phone calls on the streets and their front yard.
NSW
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It’s one of the fastest growing metropolitan suburbs of Sydney with no shortage of services — but it’s not unusual for residents of The Ponds to be sitting in their front lawn or driving out of the suburb to take or make phone calls.
The suburb about 45km northwest of the CBD has had barely any coverage since its inception 15 years ago with residents jumping through hoops to stay in touch with their loved ones.
But improved connectivity is in sight after 400 residents wrote to Federal MP Michelle Rowland highlighting the issue.
The state’s top mobile carriers have all confirmed that the region had poor coverage prompting Blacktown Council to lodge three applications for new mobile tower infrastructure to be approved, with the Office of Local Government.
Ms Rowland said the OLG needed to “get on board” and not delay the progress with “bureaucracy and red tape”.
“The council understands the status quo is not sustainable. The mobile carriers all want to invest to better serve their customers. Everyone is aligned,” she said.
The OLG had to delay its approval of the applications because Blacktown Council had not provided the right information – that information has now been received.
“Requests for the information required to assess the applications were made by OLG in June and July,” a spokesman said.
Blacktown Council added: “Council can confirm that three Optus lease applications located on public reserve land have been lodged for approval with the Office of Local Government for the Minister’s determination.”
Resident Tonia Borg-Bonello has struggled to text or call anyone from the family home they bought five years ago.
“You often see your neighbours out of the front of the house because there is no reception. You can hear conversations all the time. They’ll be sitting outside on their front porch,” she said.
“My son can only call out on FaceTime, it’s the only way to have a conversation with him. He doesn’t receive texts.
“If I’m driving and I get two streets away from home, I have to finish the conversation because the call will just drop. To test the family’s daily struggles, The Daily Telegraph tried to reach Ms Borg-Bonello through WhatsApp, FaceTime, text and phone call and all were unsuccessful until she drove out of the area.
The family pays $2400 a year for their four mobile phones and said it’s a nuisance that the government keeps releasing housing land but doesn’t invest in appropriate infrastructure.
A spokesman for the department of planning, infrastructure and environment said the government expected the “right infrastructure” to be in place before “selling lots for new communities”.
“It is also the responsibility of land developers to make sure telecommunication infrastructure is in place as part of their subdivision conditions,” he said.
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