Fix for mobile dropouts

THE 15-year battle to solve the southern Gold Coast’s mobile black spots has taken a giant leap forward, with more than $4.5 million to be spent on service upgrades.

In a move more than a decade in the making, Optus will upgrade facilities along the NSW border which will boost coverage on the 4G network along the M1, Gold Coast Highway and the Tweed Valley.

Mobile towers will be upgraded across a range of border locations which will affect more than 11,000 people through Coolangatta, Bilambil Heights, Banora Point East, Chinderah Bay, Banora Point, Casuarina, Cobaki Lakes, Pottsville Beach and Murwillumbah West.

The upgrades will begin within weeks and are expected to be completed this year, with the ability to cope with the spike in visitors to the city for next year’s 2018 Commonwealth Games.

Optus state manager Mark O’Shea said the upgrades would improve coverage across the network for both phones and download speeds.

“More than six million people travel through the Coolangatta Airport each year and this upgrade will ensure they stay connected with family and friends while on holidays or travelling for work,” he said.

“It will also improve coverage along the M1 Pacific Motorway and the Gold Coast Highway which is great news for motorists.”

The work is the latest in a series of upgrades to the 4G network across the southern Gold Coast and Hinterland. Both have been notorious black spots for coverage.

It comes after the threeyear rollout of the NBN on the southern Gold Coast was accelerated in late 2015. By next year, about 53,000 people on the southern Gold Coast will have access to the superfast broadband, including the remote Currumbin Valley, which continues to struggle with mobile coverage on all networks.

By September 2018, fibre to the node connections will be available to service providers through the southern Hinterland, Tallebudgera and Palm Beach.

Next year, the even faster hybrid fibre coaxial connection will be available to southern suburbs Bilinga, Currumbin, Currumbin Waters, Elanora, Palm Beach, Elanora and Tugun.

Optus recently upgraded 12 sites at Elanora, Coolangatta, Kingscliff, Murwillumbah, Currumbin, Palm Beach, Springbrook, Burringbar, Pottsville, Sleepy Hollow, Chinderah and Coolangatta.

It comes nearly a year after the Bulletin revealed residents of Chile and Uruguay have access to faster internet than many Gold Coasters, languishing on 6Mbps.