By Shamsiya Hussainpoor
Residents in Ferny Creek have raised concerns over poor mobile reception, with several locals reporting similar connectivity problems.
A long-time Ferny Creek resident, Jacqueline Walters, has experienced constant disruptions in her mobile service, despite being a Telstra customer for over 20 years, Ms Walters finds mobile calls frequently break up, making conversations difficult.
“The mobile conversations are constantly breaking up, and people can only hear half of what I’m saying. I’m forever roaming around the house trying to find a spot that works, but nothing does anymore,” she said.
Ms Walters is not alone, other residents in the area are experiencing similar issues, with some resorting to alternative services like Starlink to get reliable internet.
In response to concerns raised by Star Mail, Telstra has provided the following statement:
“Telstra invests more than any other telco in Australia, with our mobile network now covering 99.7 per cent of the Australian population over an area of three million square kilometres, which is more than one million square kilometres greater than our nearest competitor,” a Telstra spokesperson said.
“Our 4G and/or 5G coverage is available in the Dandenongs but a number of things can affect coverage in certain areas. This includes the type of device being used, the distance from a tower, terrain (hills and valleys), the urban density, presence of intervening vegetation or buildings, the types of materials used in buildings and in vehicles that signal needs to pass through, to name just a few.”
“We have contacted this customer to assist with these issues and have found that she is using an older model phone which only supports 4G and therefore doesn’t have access to improved coverage on the 5G network.”
“Residents in this situation can improve their mobile coverage by using their NBN connection to access Wi-Fi calling. This is a free setting on most popular mobile phones and allows your mobile to use a Wi-Fi network to make and receive mobile calls.”
A Telstra spokesperson said they are also arranging for their network team to review the coverage and performance of the tower providing service in the area.
While Telstra acknowledges the issues, residents are hopeful that improvements to the network will address ongoing reception problems in Ferny Creek.
