By Ethan Benedicto
The eastern border and central suburbs of Clyde and Clyde North have been under the thumb of subpar mobile connection since its population began to boom in the late 2010s, however, there was some progress in 2024 where seemingly, the residents’ wishes were finally heard.
The initial report by Star News in 2024 occurred in late February, where once more, the struggles of the lack of reliable connectivity were echoed by the people.
Despite the ongoing roadworks in the area, as well as the constant rise of new homes, Elizabeth Sabelino, who has been living in Clyde North since 2017, was still experiencing reception issues.
“To this day the reception hasn’t gotten any better, from my house I still only have one bar on a good day,” she said in February.
In 2016, Clyde North had a population of 8000 residents, while Clyde had 2000 – both suburbs seeing exponential growth of 288.26 per cent and 427.76 per cent respectively, by 2021.
Previously a communications intern for the Major Transport Infrastructure Authority, Sabelino had instances where she worked from home, an experience she said was made challenging by the lack of proficient cell reception.
“I’ve had to work around by doing WIFI calling but even that doesn’t help that much.
“What I’ve had to do every time there’s a call, I have to go to the front of the house to get better reception,” Sabelino said.
Maree Cullinan, the manager of the Balla Balla Community Centre in Selandra Rise, echoed Ms Sabelino’s sentiments. In February she said that the poor cell reception “isn’t really a selling point for Clyde North”.
“Many people are still working from home, and we have trouble even here, we have to go out of the building just to make calls.
“The one thing we should have access to is good cell reception, especially in this day and age,” Ms Cullinan said.
At that stage, an associate professor from RMIT’s school of engineering, Mark Gregory said that “things like buildings, the terrain and of course, the location of freeways and vehicles, and supermarkets” can impact signal.
While topographically Clyde and Clyde North are relatively flat, Professor Gregory said that the weather is one of many things that “really degrade the signal”.
“In regards to that you’ve got heat, dust, and moisture in the air.
“You mix that in with tall objects like trees, buildings, and hills, you’re going to have a combination of things that are going to affect the signal,” he said.
Fast-forward a month later, there were motions from a local MP, with Holt’s Cassandra Fernando endeavouring to take the needed steps after receiving a sizeable stack of surveys from residents that all said the same thing: they needed better connection.
A stack of over 3000 physical surveys made their home in Holt MP Cassandra Fernando’s office with 2000 more via email after she inquired local citizens on reception issues.
While there was a barrage of complaints and concerns, the most common factor that was more often mentioned than not was calling triple-0.
“The people, if you look at all these surveys – with the people I’ve spoken to – they can’t call triple-0 and that’s a basic necessity for any person living in this country,” Ms Fernando said.
A total of 10,000 surveys were sent out by the office, which at that point, marked two years since plans around addressing said reception issues began brewing in April 2022.
What began with door-knocking and calling constituents, soon developed further during the pre-polling season when she realised it was a much bigger topic and issue.
“I said to myself and to those people, if I come into government, or as a member for Holt, that was something that was going to be a main focus for me, that these people get the coverage they need,” she said.
The Connecting Victoria campaign and its $56 million Victorian Mobile Project was crucial at this stage – and remains so – which would eventually see 230 places in the state fitted with better mobile infrastructure, and deliver more than 1400 projects by 2026.
Fernando at that point had plans to speak with all relative parties involved in the processes and decision-making surrounding the towers, and when she spoke with Optus, she said that although they are in the planning phase, Optus had ten sites in the works for the surrounding areas.
She also spoke with City of Casey’s CEO Glen Patterson where she emphasised to him that the surveys show “a community need for proper mobile coverage”.
Likewise, she also called for other electorates whose citizens are experiencing reception issues to take action similar to hers, or anything that addresses the issue.
“I’ve faced the issue myself and I think just experiencing it is very important to know these people’s struggles that they have to go through,” she said.
Two months later, some good news finally came.
A Telstra spokesperson told 9News in late April 2024 that three projects were currently underway as part of the Connecting Victoria Mobile program to improve 4G and 5G connectivity in the local area.
With two new mobile stations and an upgrade for an existing one in the books, the spokesperson said that “Telstra expects to have one new mobile base station in Clyde East constructed during May and operational by the end of June this year”.
Ari Ross, a worker at Clyde North’s Deoro Cafe said “it’s about time”.
“I live just down the road, and I only have one bar in my whole house it’s terrible, so I think it’s about time honestly,” she said.
Her difficulties are well-known and a common sentiment for a majority of residents in Clyde and Clyde North, with Maree Cullinan, executive officer at Balla Balla Community Centre saying that “we agree that community members are very frustrated with the lack of coverage in the area”.
Optus is in the same boat, with three new sites operational in the last year and covering parts of Casey Stadium and Clyde North.
“We are working hard to bring residents of Casey improved mobile coverage,” an Optus spokesperson said.
“Optus is working on an additional eight towers in the area – seven of these are part of the Connecting Victoria Mobile Program to improve mobile connectivity in Clyde, including Clyde North, Cranbourne, Berwick and Hallam.”
Provided to 9News also at that same time frame, a Casey Council spokesperson said that they were working closely with the State Government and telecommunications providers in order to address the infrastructure and servicing gaps throughout the municipality, especially for Clyde and Clyde North.
“A total of two mobile towers (and one broadband solution) and four mobile towers have been identified to be delivered and service Clyde and Clyde North, with several of these towers already being delivered or having received relevant approvals before construction.
“Casey has issued 12 planning permits for new towers in the last year, six of which are all in Clyde/Clyde North,” the spokesperson said.
Three months passed and the first Telstra tower in Clyde North was finally installed on Thursday 25 July.
It is situated in the corner of Ramlegh Reserve, with Michael Galea MP addressing the 31 July legislative assembly meeting where he called on the Minister for Government Services for further development following the installation.
Then just two months later, a bigger step was taken when the Peri-Urban Mobile Project was officially announced in Clyde on Thursday 24 October.
Also known as PUMP, the project will have two towers in the Holt electorate, one in Clyde and another in Blind Bight to open in 2025, with a grand total of 12 for the growing suburbs in Casey.
Attended by Federal Minister for Communications Michelle Rowland, she said that “this is absolutely essential for every resident, everyone relies on connectivity; the people who are working from home, the students, and for accessing emergency services”.
“This is no longer a society where we rely on landlines, there would be a huge percentage of people here who would either wouldn’t be using a landline or wouldn’t know what their landline number even is,” she said.
Also in attendance were Holt MP Cassandra Fernando, Waveconn CEO Grant Stevenson, National Growth Alliance CEO Bronwen Clark and Stockland Estate representatives.
Then, with Christmas coming early and marking the second instalment of 2024, the tower at 36 Bells Road in Clyde marked what looks to be a rather steady journey for reception upgrades in Clyde and Clyde North.
The minister for government services, Gabrielle Williams, announced on Thursday 5 December, the completion of the tower, which improves TPG and Optus coverage for over 8000 premises and delivers an 18-kilometre-squared upgraded outdoor 4G and 5G coverage.
“We know the communities of Clyde and Clyde North have struggled with poor coverage in the area for some time – by supporting these new towers we are providing residents and businesses with better connectivity,” Williams said.
