Pindimar and Bundabah’s telecom black hole Highlight Section Myall Coast Port Stephens by News Of The Area - Modern Media - March 6, 2024 Gan Gan tower, more than seven kilometres away, only reaches South Pindimar waterfront residents. PINDIMAR and Bundabah exist within a permanent telecommunications void, suffering among the worst of all locales along the Myall Coast. There are no mobile transceivers within the Pindimar-Bundabah localities. 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 From South Pindimar’s shores, a far-off view of Gan Gan’s towers means just a few bars of mobile signal, so long as those towers have not been crowded out by the 70,000 Port Stephens residents who are prioritised by virtue of their proximity. At North Pindimar, there is no useful mobile signal to be had on any given day, and the Pindimar RFS station sits well within that blackspot. “We asked Telstra last year what it would take to improve the service from Gan Gan tower, they said ‘up to $1million’,” Pindimar Bundabah Community Association President Vivien Panhuber told NOTA. “One of our political representatives also suggested getting a phone with two SIMs, one each for Telstra and Optus, but we don’t get a signal from either.” Bundabah’s reputation as a signal black-hole precedes it, as both Gan Gan and Salamander Bay towers are blocked by mountains, although one or two residences may grab a bar or two from Lemon Tree Passage on a clear day. “To get reception, we have had to put on gumboots and walk out into the mud,” said Andrew Jeffries, PBCA Treasurer. Residents across Pindimar-Bundabah have also confirmed the impact of holiday phone traffic, instantly swallowing up the mobile signal. National Broadband Network (NBN) in-ground infrastructure exists out to North Pindimar and Bundabah, but the rest of the terrain was deemed too rocky to attempt. “Our house is too far from the road to get NBN,” Andrew explained. “We had Sky Muster satellite service once, which wasn’t brilliant, just all right, and eye-wateringly expensive.” Many residents may have also mistakenly concluded that their mobile situation was solved when the advent of ‘wi-fi calling’ was quietly introduced, by which mobile calls will work if their mobile is on the household wi-fi network. The recent NBN service blackout, however, which affected Pindimar and Bundabah among others, proved that fallacy, with absolutely no telecommunications possible, in or out of Pindimar-Bundabah. “People couldn’t contact family, what if there had been an emergency?” Vivien asked rhetorically, for telecom wholesalers and retailers have yet to usefully respond. By Thomas O’KEEFE NBN infrastructure posts mark the long cable up to the Totem Pole in Pindimar, and along Bundabah Road. Most mobile towers (red) in surrounding locales are too far away, or too obstructed, to reach Pindimar and Bundabah, villages (both in blue).
