Bass Coast locals and holiday-makers fed up with poor connection

Terrible internet and phone reception this summer has left Bass Coast locals and holiday-makers fed up. Here’s why things aren’t improving.

Bass Coast locals and holiday-makers are fed up with poor internet and phone connection in the area.

Locals and holiday-makers are fed up with poor internet and mobile phone connection sweeping across the Bass Coast this summer.

With thousands of visitors flocking to the coast over the school holiday period, demands for reception have not been met.

Telstra customer Leah Wombwell said she couldn’t make or receive phone calls from inside her Grantville house.

“I’ve called emergency services and had to go outside because the phone cut out which was hard because then I wasn’t with the person I was calling for,” Ms Wombwell said.

“I had to go in and out of the house to give emergency services the correct details about how they were.”

Ms Wombwell said she was thankful it wasn’t a situation where she couldn’t leave the person in need.

A Telstra spokesman said during busy periods there can be a greater demand on the network in different holiday locations, which meant data speeds customers experienced could sometimes be slower.

“We carefully monitor and balance the demand on our network in these specific locations to manage the higher number of users,” he said.

“We know it can be frustrating but it isn’t an issue unique to any one provider, especially over peak periods like the holidays.”

No mobile base stations have been funded in Bass Coast Shire through the first five rounds of the Government’s Mobile Black Spot Program.

Cowes, San Remo, Wonthaggi and Inverloch were shown to have poor telecommunications services and black spots in the area in a telecommunications paper submitted by the Bass Coast Shire Council in 2014.

Melbourne resident Mark Grasso said his Telstra internet and phone connection had been terrible while staying in Phillip Island during this summer.

“I went on holidays to the west side of central Cowes where it was particularly bad,” he said.

“To get one bar of 4G was the best I could get and most of the time it was 3G which was so frustrating”.

Mr Grasso said it was hard to keep up with the news on COVID-19 developments and post photos to social media.

Working in administration, Mr Grasso said he would love the option of working from the island but said he “won’t bother” with “speeds as terrible as they are”.

A Department of Infrastructure, Transport, Regional Development and Communications spokesman confirmed to The Bass Coast News that no mobile base stations had been funded in Bass Coast Shire through the first five rounds of the Government’s Mobile Black Spot Program.

In comparison, 13 new base stations have been funded to date in the South Gippsland Shire, with all base stations now completed and on air.

Bass State Labor Jordan Crugnale MP said people living in the Bass Coast “all have a story to tell” when it comes to internet and phone connection.

“We all know in which areas in and around our home we have optimal reception, which sections of road the line goes quiet and where a business owner has to stand to complete an eftpos transaction,” Ms Crugnale said.

The application process for the latest round of the Mobile Black Spot Program, Round 5A, is currently open with submissions from Mobile Network Operators and Infrastructure providers due by March 5 2021.

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