Telstra has found that illegal boosters are hindering mobile phone coverage in the Rainbow-Hopetoun area.
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Spokesman James Howe said technicians had identified three boosters during the past month which had interfered with the transmission of Telstra towers for the area.
The Australian Communications and Media Authority prohibits the operation, supply and possession of mobile phone boosters, which manufacturers claim enhance the performance and coverage of mobile phones.
Mr Howe said Telstra would continue to investigate and criminal prosecutions were possible.
The Mail-Times called Telstra after Iain Sedgman of Arapiles reported unreliable Telstra 3G network coverage at Rainbow. He had noticed the problem since June.
He showed the Mail-Times speed diagnostic tests he had done as proof of his poor coverage.
"I believe there is something intrinsically wrong with the Telstra 3G network in the Rainbow area and from conversations with others this probably extends to the Hopetoun area," he said.
"I work at Rainbow and often live in a unit there mid-week and that is how I am aware of this problem. This issue must be affecting many people in the Rainbow-Hopetoun area.
"I am on a 3G Telstra SIM card on my iPad and I enjoy wonderful speeds at times, but all too often and over the past few months I have a strong connection but virtually little or no throughput.
"It seems that at certain times of the day, possibly the busy hours first thing in the morning, say 6am to 9am, and certainly in the afternoon, from about 4pm to 8pm, the connectivity is non-existent and sometimes poor.
"I would have double the number of tests showing no throughput, except it is so bad the testing product hangs and I get messages from web pages, 'unable to connect, check your network connection'."
Mr Sedgman has worked in the information technology industry since 1987 and is now an IT teacher. He said a colleague, who also uses a Telstra 3G iPad, had the same coverage problems.
"I am very disappointed with the current situation," he said.
"My mobile phone is with Optus and I can switch this to act as a wireless access point and then connect my iPad to this during these times when I lose throughput."
Mr Howe said illegal boosters often produced significant 'noise' which affected Telstra tower transmissions.
"This noise takes up a large amount of our capacity," he said. "We are identifying exactly where those boosters are and if we can get these boosters turned off.
"We have found three boosters and believe there are more in the area, which we will continue to investigate."
Mr Howe said a mobile phone booster was an example of an illegal booster.
"This illegal product is meant to increase mobile phone coverage in a certain area," he said.
"So while one household might believe they benefit, it ruins everyone else's mobile phone coverage."