Telstra proposes new mobile phone tower to strengthen 4G coverage in Katherine
Mobile phone coverage is set to be strengthened in part of Katherine if a proposal for a new telecommunications facility is approved.
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MOBILE phone coverage is set to be strengthened in part of Katherine if a proposal for a new telecommunications facility in the town is approved.
Telstra last week lodged a development application to build a new mobile phone base station on Lot 2810 in Casuarina Street, a facility the telecommunications giant says would improve 4G coverage and data speeds in Katherine East.
The proposed station would include a 35m high monopole tower plus an equipment shelter and GPS antenna.
In application documents, Telstra stated that while the company’s existing Katherine Exchange facility, near the corner of Bicentennial Road and the Stuart Highway, already provided mobile phone services in the Katherine East area, the town needed a new station to ease congestion.
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“Additional 4G services are required to the eastern parts of the new development to provide congestion relief to the Katherine Exchange site trying to serve this area from a distance,” it stated.
“To compensate for the reduction of capacity, the serving site will automatically reduce its coverage area and limit access to the network for distant customers at the subdivision edge.
“Due to congestion, many mobile data and voice services are becoming unavailable and the overall data throughput is very slow.
“This is an especially significant issue when more people are working from home or any emergency when the only possible way of communication is mobile technology.
“To address these performance issues, Telstra is planning to invest a significant amount of resources to build a new mobiles facility in Katherine East as this area has been identified as the source of the traffic.”
The company said the planned facility would “provide much needed depth of 4G coverage to residential areas in Katherine East”
Chamber of Commerce NT Katherine regional manager Colin Abbott said while the chamber hadn’t heard of any local businesses being impacted by slow or unavailable mobile phone services, it was good to see Telstra investing in improved coverage in Katherine.
“Any improvements that Telstra is bringing to town that are going to help businesses do their job better is most welcome,” he said.
Submissions on the proposal are open until midnight on May 19.
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