Rural
Telstra upgrade to leave site 'off air' for almost a week

Telstra will be upgrading its mobile base station at Young from Wednesday, August 14 to Wednesday, August 21 with disruptions expected for local residents.

According to Telstra the upgrade will modernise the infrastructure to bring better 4G services to the community and will prepare the network for 5G coverage to be provided once the 3G network is shut off at the end of August.

"These improvements will temporarily impact Telstra mobile coverage at various times from Wednesday, August 14 to Wednesday, August 21, 2024," a Telstra spokesperson said.

According to Telstra the disruptions will be in two phases throughout the week with the second phase expected to have the site off air for almost five days.

"Disruptions to the network of up to 10 hours per day will be experienced between 7am and 5pm on Wednesday, August 14 and Thursday, August 15, 2024 while the first phase of work takes place," the spokesperson said.

"The second phase of disruptions will be experienced from 7am on Friday, August 16 to 5pm on Tuesday, August 20, 2024. The entire site is expected to be off the air for this entire period."

Telstra have said that disruptions could also potentially be expected on the last day of the upgrades as well.

"Disruptions of up to four hours may be experienced on Wednesday, August 21, 2024 whilst call testing and commissioning works are undertaken," the spokesperson said.

According to Telstra if all goes according to plan and weather permitting residents should be noticing an improvement in Telstra mobile services by Wednesday, August 21.

"Telstra mobile customers will receive text messages advising of the upcoming work," the spokesperson said.

Telstra has assured that landline services, NBN internet services and mobile coverage from other providers will not be impacted and have said that emergency calls to triple zero will be diverted to other networks.

"Any calls to triple zero from a Telstra mobile site is off air will automatically be diverted to any working mobile network for connection to emergency services," the spokesperson said.

Telstra Regional General Manager Chris Taylor said while crews need to work during daylight for safety they will only be switching off the site when they need to have it back on as quickly as possible.

"There's never a good time to undertake this sort of work but once it is completed, it will mean better mobile services for local residents," Mr Taylor said.

Mr Taylor said the short term pain will be worth the long-term pain with the roll out of 5G connectivity in Young 'for the first time' will mean 'customers with Telstra 5G mobile devices will be able to enjoy a better mobile experience.'

"We're continuing to expand our 5G network across Young and nationally we're adding new sites to the network every week," he said.

"Upgrades such as these continue to demonstrate Telstra's ongoing commitment to regional Australia."

Telstra have said once completed the upgrade will also bring added benefits to customers on the 4G network with more capacity and providing better network connectivity and less congestion in peak times.

Visit www.telstra.com.au for more information.