Residents of Lilli Pilli met with Ann Sudmalis, Member for Gilmore, yesterday during one of her Village visits to the Shire. Lilli Pilli resident Judy Boyes presented Ms Sudmalis with a petition requesting full mobile coverage in the Lilli Pilli area as there were large pockets that were shadowed providing NO service whatsoever.
Above: Judith Boyes and fellow Lilli Pilli community members present a petition to Ms Ann Sudmalis, Member for Gilmore seeking improved mobile service. To some this might no seem an issue however to those who live in the shadow of no service it is becoming an issue when poor Telstra land line issues are not being dealt with and there is a greater dependence on mobile phone for emergency use such as MediAlert services that are now mainly linked to mobile phones. Additionally smart meters that improve a consumers ability to monitor and economise on power usage now rely on mobile reception and within black hole pockets such as Lilli Pilli consumers are left out in the cold. Once mobile phones were seen as a luxuary item. Today they are tied to our daily lives and we have become reliant on them to such an extent that we have an expectation that they should work every where. This pocket in Lilli Pilli is not unique especially when you begin to look at the Australian Mobile Black spot map
Good news for Nelligen Installation is underway for a tower to provide mobile reception in Nelligen. While the residents of Nelligen have been petitioning for service for many years it fell on deaf ears and anecdotally they were informed by Telstra that they had too few people to justify the half million dollar cost of a tower. This observation of "economy" was overturned when it was made more than apparent that the Kings Highway, and especially the section fro the top of the Clyde Mountain to Batemans Bay was a notorious road accident area and that mobile coverage was essential to improve emergency service response. Thank fully the tower is now on its way and the Nelligen residents might now, vicariously benefit. Ms Sudmalis accepted the petition from the Lilli Pilli representatives in good faith however she admitted that a solution would not be forthcoming unless Telstra upgraded the strength on its current towers or that Optus recognised the shadow area and sought to provide service via one of its own towers installed to remove the black spot. The Lilli Pilli group had written to the Telecommunications Industry Ombudsman requesting assistance however the TIO advised that they "do NOT handle complaints about infrastucture shortfalls in relation to mobile coverage"
