Henry Pike’s mobile dossier: exposing telco failures after Cyclone Alfred

A bayside MP is compiling a dossier of mobile failures and demanding urgent upgrades from telcos and the government after Cyclone Alfred left his electorate in a communications blackout.

MP Henry Pike.

A bayside MP is compiling a dossier of mobile network failures which wiped his electorate off the mobile network over a week during Cyclone Alfred.

Bowman MP Henry Pike said he was gathering hard evidence from locals who suffered mobile failures during the cyclone to hold telecommunications providers and the federal government to account.

Redland suburbs were left in a communications black hole when Cyclone Alfred tore through the region leaving thousands unable to make phone calls, send text messages or access the internet.

More than 450,000 Energex customers were without power during Cyclone Alfred and about 250,000 households lost access to the NBN network across south east Queensland and New South Wales.

Trees were blown into powerlines at Redland Bay where access to the NBN and mobile networks was wiped out for six days. Picture: Judith Kerr

Mr Pike called it a “serious failure” that put lives at risk.

Determined to hold the telcos and the federal government to account, Mr Pike wants people to document their outages to help him take the fight forward.

“When Tropical Cyclone Alfred hit, the entire mobile network collapsed – right when people needed it most,” he said.

“This wasn’t just an inconvenience – it was dangerous.

“People were cut off from emergency services, unable to check on loved ones, and left without crucial disaster updates.

“If this had been a bushfire tearing through Mt Cotton or our islands, people could have died.

“The more stories we have, the stronger the case we can make to force telcos and the government to finally fix our broken system.

“Alfred was a wake-up call. If we don’t act now, next time could be even worse.”

Even a week after the cyclone, some locals were still without the reception they had before Alfred, exposing what Mr Pike called a longstanding, unacceptable issue plaguing the Redlands.

Since being elected in 2022, Mr Pike has challenged the telcos to improve Redlands’ mobile coverage, leading to 41 local upgrades — but he said the cyclone exposed the system’s weaknesses.

“This issue has been ignored for far too long,” he said.

Those who experienced mobile failures can send their details to Mr Pike’s office.

Originally published as Henry Pike’s mobile dossier: exposing telco failures after Cyclone Alfred