Beach mobiles suffer from poor reception

THEY’RE only 1km away from an international airport, but Machans Beach residents claim they live in a “telecommunications shadow” with poor mobile phone coverage.

The Machans Beach Community Association has demanded federal government investment in the area, where mobile signals have become “poor to almost non-existent” in recent years.

Association secretary Deborah Fisher, who has written to Leichhardt MP Warren Entsch, said the infrastructure of mobile service providers was inadequate to handle increased traffic in the area, and needed augmentation.

She said there was no logical reason why coverage should be poor, other than a lack of telecommunications infrastructure.

“Machans Beach is flat and there is no hilly terrain to interrupt the signal,” she wrote.

“Machans Beach buildings are generally single storey and usually constructed of timber so are unlikely to hinder mobile signals.

“Thirdly, the coastal vegetation around Machans Beach is low and the local transmission tower near the Barron River highway crossing is at least three times the height of trees in our suburb.”

Anton Demolitions owner Martin Anton, whose mobile phone dropped out during an interview with the Cairns Post, said he was lucky to receive more than one bar of service at his Machans Beach business.

“We’re 1km from an international airport, and seriously, I’ve just come back from Chillagoe and Thursday Island, where I had five bars all the time,” he said.

“We’re in a telecommunications shadow here.

“(The federal government) has spent a lot of money on fixing up mobile black spot areas, but Machans Beach doesn’t rate a mention.”

Long-time beach resident Ramon Davis said he too experienced issues with mobile phone coverage in the southern part of the suburb.

“Sometimes it’s OK, but sometimes I need to go into the backyard to boost the signal,” he said. “It’s been like this, for years.”

Telstra regional general manager Rachel Cliffe said Machans Beach had the telco’s state-of-the-art 4G 4GX, since 2015.

“We have spoken to some customers in the area about their coverage and found their issues related to the age of their devices or materials in their home,” she said. “For ex- service, ample, cyclone shutters are known to disrupt mobile signals.”

editorial@cairnspost.com.au facebook.com/TheCairnsPost www.cairnspost.com.au twitter.com/TheCairnsPost

Picture: STEWART McLEAN OUTSIDE BROADCAST: Machans Beach resident Ramon Davis says he has to walk outside his house to get mobile reception and claims the problem has existed for some years.