An election win for the Turnbull Government could mean improved mobile phone coverage for Daintree/Cape Tribulation residents.

Warren Entsch, the Federal Liberal member for Leichhardt, said yesterday areas in his electorate will receive funding for improved mobile phone coverage if the Coalition is re-elected as part of an additional $60 million commitment to extend the successful Mobile Black Spot Program.

Following lengthy consultation, Entsch has identified four new mobile base stations at Weipa, Mt Carbine, Daintree/Cape Tribulation and Wonga Beach along the Mossman-Daintree Road that will be prioritised for funding and will bring a much-needed boost to mobile coverage, providing benefits to emergency service operators, businesses, and residents.

“We have selected these areas of the electorate because they have been overlooked by mobile network operators due to commercial factors. 

“A re-elected Coalition government will immediately invite mobile network operators to bid for this new funding to provide coverage in the identified locations at the earliest opportunity,” Mr Entsch said.  

Gaye Scott, from the Daintree Marketing Cooperative (DMC), told Newsport that there is no real consensus across the membership (of the DMC) with regard to enhanced mobile phone coverage in the Daintree.  

“From a business, marketing and operational perspective, for some it is seen as being hugely beneficial. Communications in parts of the Daintree are currently vulnerable and inefficient which can put businesses at a competitive disadvantage.

“But, for others, one of the essential aspects of the Daintree is the ability to 'get away from it all' which is something many of our guests treasure.

“This will be lost when smartphones invade. One operator likened it to ‘Death by a thousand Cuts’.  Another thought there were more pressing issues,” said Ms Scott.

The Douglas Chamber of Commerce said they would be happy to see better mobile coverage in these areas, in particular Daintree/Cape Tribulation due to the tourist traffic for many operators.  

“Better mobile coverage enables people to share their images instantly; which would further promote our region,” said Helen De Ross, the chamber’s president.

“There is already significant demand on our network, including NBN.  With several outages recently, an upgrade of the region’s mobile network may ease a small amount of the pressure. There have been instances where NBN was completely out in areas such as Julatten that also has no mobile coverage, thus making people impossible to make contact even in emergencies.

“The Chamber and Council are seeking to upgrade proposed NBN rollout to fibre to premises due to our tourism dependency. Cairns’ NBN network is already struggling which illustrates we need an upgrade before we even begin,” she said.

The possibility of this occurring was also welcomed by the local tourism body in Port Douglas.

“We are all acutely aware of the connectivity issue and if this reached fruition it would be an outstanding and welcome feature for all involved,” said Tara Bennett, Executive Officer, Tourism Port Douglas Daintree

Entsch said the Coalition Government understands the importance of mobile coverage in regional and remote areas of Australia.  That is why we are committing an additional $60 million on top of the $160 million already invested in mobile black spots, bringing the Coalition’s total investment to $220 million.

 “The Coalition is committed to improving mobile coverage along major transport routes, in small communities, as well as addressing unique mobile coverage problems such as areas with high seasonal demand,” he said.

The Coalition’s $220 million plan to address mobile black spots will ensure regional communities have better access to wider and more reliable mobile phone coverage.

Visit the Chamber’s Telstra Survey link: www.douglaschamber.com.au/telstra-survey

The results will be forwarded to Federal, State, Council and Telstra to support our argument for upgrading NBN proposal