Construction of new mobile tower a vital next step for Yarrabah, leaders say
Construction of a new mobile tower in Yarrabah has been hailed as an important first step in delivering reliable internet to the community.
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Construction of a new mobile tower in Yarrabah has been hailed as an important first step, but local leaders say reliable internet connectivity in the community must be guaranteed in the long term.
“Digital access is critical for economic development here in Yarrabah,” co-Chair of the Yarrabah Leaders’ Forum Father Les Baird said.
“With some of Australia’s leading Indigenous artists here in community, it is critical to develop greater digital access and capacity to assist in the economic development of this
region.”
Yarrabah, which sits just over 10km from Cairns across Trinity Inlet, has long been plagued with bad connectivity.
An estimated 50 per cent of households do not have internet access.
The Queensland average is 14 per cent.
Phone and internet service also frequently drops out due to a “pencil beam” connection from Cairns via Green Island.
This puts signal in Yarrabah at the mercy of cloud cover and adverse weather rolling through the Coral Sea.
Some locals and businesses have turned to Elon Musk’s “Starlink” satellite service, although that is fairly expensive and also suffers from an unreliable connection in bad weather.
Construction of the new tower by Indara Digital Infrastructure began with a site induction on May 14, and is hoped to improve the situation in a community which has no NBN connectivity or 5G capabilities.
Better connection would also greatly improve healthcare outcomes for the Yarrabah community by making reliable telehealth appointments possible.
At the moment, residents are often forced to make the costly trip to Cairns or further afield to see specialists when those same appointments could be done remotely – connection permitting.
“If we had a robust connectivity, telehealth would be the ideal type of healthcare to deliver in Yarrabah,” Suzanne Andrews, chief executive of Gurriny Yealamucka Health Services Aboriginal Corporation, which manages healthcare in Yarrabah Shire, said.
“It’s cost effective, we’ve got doctors just on the other end of the screen, we don’t have to have our Mob travelling to the cities to get specialist tertiary care.”
Although the tower was seen as an important step, local leaders warned it could not be seen as the sole solution in the community.
“An extra tower will benefit our community; however, this is just one key piece in a
1000-piece jigsaw,” Father Baird said.
“We have for many years advocated strongly for improved telecommunications as well as NBN fibre optic connectivity for Yarrabah.”
Ms Andrews agreed.
“We welcome the opportunity for this to (be the) start for the government looking at this for our community,” she said.
“We’re a stone’s throw from Cairns yet we’ve got massive connectivity issues.”
Construction of the new tower is scheduled for completion by October 2024.
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Originally published as Construction of new mobile tower a vital next step for Yarrabah, leaders say
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