Mobile blackspot issues in the West Tamar could be fixed within two years if federal Labor is elected.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
Federal opposition communications spokesman Stephen Jones made the announcement with Bass Labor MHR Ross Hart at Grindelwald on Wednesday.
Mr Hart said he'd been lobbying hard for the people experiencing mobile phone connectivity issues in his electorate, including the Greens Beach, York Town, Kelso and Trevallyn areas.
Mr Jones said Labor was committed to investing in the mobile phone blackspots in the West Tamar.
"We understand whether you’re running a big business, a home-based business or want to ensure that you can keep in contact with your kids throughout the day, mobile phones and mobile phone coverage is not a luxury, it is a necessity," he said.
The federal government invested $220 million in its Mobile Black Spot Program to improve coverage across the country, but Mr Jones accused the government of playing politics with the rollout.
"When Labor was last in government we invested over $260 million in the back haul - that’s the cable, the big fat cable, that connects the mobile phone towers together," he said.
"That has enabled the government to come along after us and put some more mobile phone towers in along the highways and other places, but sadly they haven’t done a good job in administering the program.
"We want to take the politics out of it."
Aspect Tamar Valley Resort general manager Damien Pinkerton said operating a business located in a mobile phone blackspot had been a struggle and guests complained daily about the dropouts.
"It is hard to run a business with 80 staff here to communicate with without decent mobile phone reception and likewise you have tourist around and you want them to post on Instagram and Facebook to promote that they’re here in Northern Tasmania and here in Grindelwald," he said.
For the past 11 years Mr Pinkerton said they'd been lobbying for better phone reception and praised Labor's commitment to fix the issue.
"We have 150 acres of space and I’ve offered land over many years to people to put up some sort of tower, so we’d happily assist in any way possible to make it happen," he said.
Virginia Morris and Alan Hall moved to Grindelwald about a year ago and struggled with mobile phone reception ever since.
"You can be talking but all of a sudden they can’t hear you and then you’ve got to walk around or go outside," Ms Morris said.
Mr Hall said the dropouts were the biggest problem.
"You can walk from one room to another and whoever you were talking to has disappeared. Every time you redo a phone call it cost you extra money," he said.