Revealed: Map of Bundaberg’s mobile coverage black spots

Mobile coverage black spots are hampering businesses and risking lives in the Bundaberg region. See the full black spot map.

Mapped: The 77 Bundaberg mobile phone blackspots that are endangering lives and impacting business.

Sarah Hansford and her team at Eco Hair Lounge have a well-practised routine that is triggered when their customers pay by credit card or EFTPOS.

“One of us usually has to take the EFTPOS terminal outside onto the street and wave it around above our heads, just to get a signal to process the transaction,” Ms Hansford said.

Eco Hair Lounge is in Kepnock, a suburb of Bundaberg just 4km from the town centre that is notorious for having poor mobile phone coverage.

The weak and unreliable service poses serious challenges for Ms Hansford’s small business.

“From a business perspective it makes it very difficult,” she said.

She has considered installing a fixed line terminal to avoid the issues, but the cost of installing and maintaining the line is prohibitive.

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Beyond the difficulties in processing EFTPOS payments, the poor service is an inconvenience to Hansford’s customers.

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Customers often miss calls while in the salon, and are unable to use their phones to pass the time as they are able to do in other hairdressers.

Another hairdresser operating out of the Eco Hair Lounge salon, Denae Hendren, lives locally and is unable to use her phone while at home.

“I live just two minutes down the road and I can’t make calls down there,” Ms Hendren said.

Most seriously, the lack of service poses risks for the health and safety of Kepnock locals.

When Ms Hansford witnessed a traffic accident in 2022, she was unable to call an ambulance due to the poor reception.

“I took my phone out to call emergency services, but I had no signal,” she said.

Federal government data shows 77 reported mobile coverage black spots across the Bundaberg region, although the figures have not been updated since 2018.

The Federal government’s Mobile Black Spot Database identifies 77 reception black spots across the Bundaberg region.

The data has not been updated since October 2018, with most sites last updated in February 2016.

A Communications Department spokeswoman said the database was created to assist with the first round of the coalition government’s black spot program but, as the spots were nominated by the public, they “were not independently tested to verify the level of mobile coverage”.

“For this reason, the previous government took the decision to close the register,” she said.

New upgrades would be rolled out under the Better Connectivity program, which would build on the exiting Mobile Black Spot and Regional Connectivity schemes.

Besides Kepnock, another area of Bundaberg in the government’s Mobile Black Spot Database is Avoca.

Avoca is home to Sugarland Plaza, one of Bundaberg’s largest shopping centres.

While the poor coverage does not pose a problem for EFTPOS transactions due to the use of in-store wifi for the terminals’ connectivity, Sugarland customers are regularly inconvenienced when trying to use Afterpay or their banking apps.

Rebecca Lines, staff member of Sugarland sunglasses store Bright Eyes, regularly needs to advise customers to move to the store entrance or even further outside in order to obtain sufficient signal to use their phones.

“If people come in and they can‘t get into Afterpay or whatever, we just say come to the front of (the store),” Ms Lines said.

“Sometimes they have to walk all the way back outside and then come all the way back in.”

Rebecca Lines, staff member of Sugarland sunglasses store Bright Eyes, regularly needs to advise customers to move to the store entrance or even further outside in order to obtain sufficient signal to use their phones.

Elyce Smith, assistant manager at handbags and luggage outlet Strandbags, also regularly advises customers struggling with connectivity to move to the entrance of the store.

The free wifi provided by Sugarland Plaza is one way to avoid the mobile connectivity issues, but access requires the user to enter so much personal information that it is a challenge to access for some users.

“I‘ve looked at it and I’ve gone ‘that’s insane, you’re asking way too many questions’,” Ms Smith said.

Elyce Smith, assistant manager at handbags and luggage outlet Strandbags, also regularly advises customers struggling with connectivity to move to the entrance of the store.

The Albanese government is planning another round of the Mobile Black Spot Program, with $40 million in grants funding directed to improving mobile coverage at 54 target locations.

With only four of those locations in Queensland, none of them in the Bundaberg region, Kepnock residents will see the Eco Hair Lounge team practising their routine for some time to come.

Originally published as Revealed: Map of Bundaberg’s mobile coverage black spots