Residents at Great Lake say mobile black spots in Tasmania’s Central Highlands are so severe that emergency services can’t always communicate with each other or the community.
The claim was raised at a large public meeting and taken to state parliament by Greens MP Tabatha Badger last month.
Badger put the question to the state government on behalf of constituents who live around the lake.
“They have a series of black spots where even emergency services are unable to properly communicate with one another and those in the community,” Badger said.
She said Telstra had committed to a 300% upgrade of coverage in the area, but the telco had also found “dangerous black spots unlike anywhere else” in the state.
“While we acknowledge this is primarily the responsibility of the federal government, my constituents are asking the Tasmanian minister what she is doing to lobby the federal government to ensure that these serious issues are fixed as an urgent priority,” Badger said.
The question went to the then innovation, science and digital economy minister, Madeleine Ogilvie.
Her written reply came just days before she resigned from cabinet.
She has since been replaced by Felix Ellis, who took on the portfolio in a cabinet reshuffle.
In her reply, Ogilvie said black spots, congestion and poor service were well-known problems across the country.
She said parts of Tasmania had seen “poorer” coverage since the 3G networks were switched off.
Ogilvie said the state had been working with Telstra and Optus through two federal schemes, the Mobile Black Spot Program and the Regional Connectivity Program.
She said Tasmania had put $880,000 towards projects over eight funding rounds, helping places including Miena, Bothwell, Hamilton and Bradys Lake.
Ogilvie also pointed to new satellite technology that connects directly to mobile phones.
“Telstra’s Starlink-enabled short message service (SMS) is now available to customers in Tasmania,” she said.
But she said there was “no clear timeline for when this technology will support voice calls”.
Ogilvie said the government would keep working to lift coverage around Great Lake “to ensure it meets the same standard as our mainland counterparts”.
