North Arm Cove, Carrington and Tahlee suffering non-existent telecommunications Myall Coast Port Stephens by News Of The Area - Modern Media - March 13, 2024 One of only two spots in North Arm Cove where the Gan Gan towers can be seen, hence a bar or two of mobile signal is possible. TELECOMMUNICATIONS across the northern shores of Port Stephens are non-existent, as the next focused stage of NOTA’s telecommunications review can now show. The residents of North Arm Cove, Carrington, and Tahlee are utterly dependent upon scant signals that may or may not cross the Bay, with all identified towers being several kilometres away, blocked by rugged terrain, or, inevitably, swamped by traffic from the more populous south side. Advertise with News of The Area today. It’s worth it for your business. Message us. Phone us – (02) 4981 8882. Email us – media@newsofthearea.com.au Karuah to the west has its own problems, while Pindimar and Bundabah to the east are in the same boat as North Arm Cove, and there are only distant highway towers to the north, all of which are too far away to be of any use to residents. The nearest mobile tower is an Optus-only transceiver at Soldiers Point, however, as last November’s infamous Optus blackout showed, communities cannot safely rely upon only one carrier. “Our Amaysim mobile phones use the Optus network, the strength of the signal inside our house is unreliable, and it’s not much better outside,” Doug Kohlhoff, a North Arm Cove resident with extensive ICT experience told NOTA. “Some days our mobiles will beep every ten minutes or so with a message saying the network is unavailable. “Important phone calls, like telehealth appointments, have been cut off halfway through. “We did use a mobile as a hotspot when the NBN was offline for almost three days recently, and we managed to have a fifteen minute video call without any buffering or interruptions.” The Gan Gan towers, the focal point of radio-based communications in Port Stephens, are only visible from a handful of spots, while first-hand measurements have shown that there are only three points in North Arm Cove where a useful signal can be found on a clear day: Baromee Point, Cove Boulevarde, and, sometimes, from the Community Centre along The Ridgeway. “Our Community Hall is meant to be a place of last resort in an emergency, but the mobile coverage there is very poor to non-existent,” Mr Kohlhoff added. Regarding broadband telecommunications, the official NBNCo website technology coverage map says that Tahlee and Carrington can get ‘fixed wireless’, while the Foreshore Village at NAC can get ‘fixed line’, advertising that “full fibre” is now available, but the even more recent NBN blackout in the region has already proven the dangers of over-reliance on home internet, too. By Thomas O’KEEFE The Gan Gan towers from Carrington’s Pier Street, a speck upon the horizon, although Lemon Tree Passage might toss a bar or two if it is not overloaded. Composite map of nearest mobile transceivers to North Arm Cove, Carrington and Tahlee (dark blue areas, top) – none provide an adequate signal, leaving these areas in a virtual black hole.
