TELSTRA has confirmed a planned blackspot tower in Wartook Valley will go ahead despite changes with the country’s mobile phone blackspots program.
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The state government announced last month it would abandon the federal program in favour of its own system, because it believed the federal government failed to properly consult when choosing sites.
It will use the $11 million it planned to invest in round three of the blackspots program to build new towers across regional Victoria.
The federal government announced in December 2016 that Wartook Valley would receive a Telstra tower through round two of the blackspots program, but never confirmed when the tower would be built.
The news came after a decade of community and government lobbying for a tower in the area, particularly in the wake of the Grampians fires in 2014.
Telstra announced on Wednesday it would spend $10 million this financial year on 18 Victorian projects to improve mobile phone coverage, including the Wartook Valley tower.
Horsham Rural City councillor David Grimble said the confirmation was welcome news for a community that had been through multiple emergencies.
“It's excellent that after a long period of time, our mobile blackspot area is going to be addressed,” he said.
“The community will be delighted, particularly once construction starts and they start to physically see these issues addressed.
“We’ve been impacted by a number of fires. The community felt vulnerable and exposed that they couldn't communicate with each other. Emergency text messages weren’t coming through in a timely manner and that was quite distressing.”
Cr Grimble said the phone tower would not only provide benefits during emergencies, but in other times too.
“It’s important to recognise the Brimpaen, Laharum and Wartook Valley area is not only a farming community, but also a well-placed adventure-based tourism and lifestyle region,” he said.
“With the Grampians Peaks Trail coming online, the tower will help tourism as well as other sectors.”
Telstra area general manager Steve Tinker said the company had invested $2.2 billion in its regional mobile network in the past three years, and continually saw the benefits improved coverage brought to rural and regional communities.