2015 Regional Telecommunications Review
ICPA Queensland Inc.
Case Studies & Member’s Comments
Case Study 1
INTERNET:
Our property is situated in Queensland’s Gulf Country approximately 71 km from our closest town
which has a resident population of approximately 180 persons. We are on a 5/10GB ABG plan. Due
to anniversary dates for converting to ISS without penalty, ISS was fully subscribed before we were
eligible.
Our business – accountancy, banking, product research/purchasing. I experience regular and
frequent dropouts during banking, large files can take up to 20-30mins to receive/large file
and uploading large files is impossible – it just times out.
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Liaise with our 3 children’s boarding institutions (with one of our children having special
needs we have at times quite frequent interactions) and both of these schools have moved
to an online platform to access key information/forms, essential information regarding
curriculum/camps/booking of interviews/purchasing of uniforms etc. One of the school’s
interactive platforms that would potentially allow us, as boarder parents, to achieve a
greater level of direct and interactive participation in our child’s learning and co-curricular
activities is largely inaccessible to us because of slow speed (forms time out before they can
be uploaded and are lost. I recently tried to complete a learning survey for our child 3 times
and on each occasion it timed out and all information was lost) and the formatting of the
platform is data heavy thus eating into my plan each time I access e.g. all photos etc. are in
hi-resolution which increases download time significantly.
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My husband is Mayor of our local Shire and the cloud and email is used as the key method
for delivery of correspondence, reports etc. and at times these can be quite large files. We
are unable to access the cloud platform utilised by Council at home due primarily to slow
speed. He has to wait until he can go into town to download this content – the platform
constantly sends out reminders until he accesses and assigns the files.

Our involvement in other groups also, due to distance, utilises internet to disseminate and
gather information from members. These groups are local government, industry,
educational and community related and whilst not all compulsory activities form a valuable
part of our “whole” personal and positive state of mental health.
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Our staff (4-5) also expect to be able to access emails and social media sites on a regular
basis. We have to place limitations upon their use (as they have to share our 5GB plan) and
whilst we try to offer a variety of methods to meet this (satellite internet, legal mobile
phone signal booster) none give them what they would consider sufficient access.
Isolated Children’s Parents’ Association Queensland Inc.
Attachment 2
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1
We need to use that 5GB to conduct:
2015 Regional Telecommunications Review
ICPA Queensland Inc.
Case Studies & Member’s Comments
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Additionally as part of his salary package, we provide an internet connection via ISS for our
head stockman. He and his wife have a lot of difficulty accessing the web and emails on their
service unless it is after 9 p.m. or before 7 a.m. On the weekend they have little to no
success. As newlyweds they were to have an interactive interview in which they viewed their
photos online with their photographer and chose photos for their albums. This was
impossible to do and arrangements had to be made for all media to be put on a USB stick
and posted. Once received, they then discussed the choices via a phone consult. This was
not the case when we first installed this service approximately 3 years ago – speeds etc.
were good, timeouts were negligible and internet was available on demand (within the
parameters of their plan). We have anecdotal evidence from other regional businesses that
this is a real issue in staff attraction and retention and has impacted upon their ability to
conduct their business.
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I would like to undertake some further learning but the restrictions caused by our internet –
data availability and speed – mean it would be very difficult to do so I have delayed my
educational aspirations at this point in time. When our children were undertaking distance
education we found it very challenging to meet the digital demands of the curriculum
delivery given the constraints of our plan and speed.
We have 7 landlines on our property. Two are placed at mustering camps as a general
communication tool and for Work Place Health & Safety purposes. We have four lines for
staff usage and one for our use as a business. We rely heavily upon telephone to undertake
daily business, access medical assistance from RFDS (our only medical response option) and
maintain regular communication with family (including unwell parents), schools and
community. Two people here have medical conditions that may require assistance at short
notice. Many of our community and several local government obligations are undertaken by
teleconferencing facilities with this increasing over the wet season due to inaccessibility to
town to undertake face to face. We keep two satellite phones as backup however due to
cost, voice delays and periods when satellite connection is unavailable these could not be
considered as a long term replacement option.

Over the years we have had long periods without phone access with such instances
increasing over the Wet season – due in part to inaccessibility to affect repairs, lightning
strikes on key infrastructure, moving of key infrastructure in the black soil, wildlife moving
into the comparative dryness of key infrastructure (ants, lizards and snakes) and moisture
accessing key infrastructure. Consecutive days of inclement weather mean that the battery
banks which run our systems get low as they rely on solar power to work and this can also
put our phones out. The worst case was 3 months without telephone but we often have
periods of over a week and have had several of at least 10 days.
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2
TELEPHONY:
Isolated Children’s Parents’ Association Queensland Inc.
Attachment 2
2015 Regional Telecommunications Review
ICPA Queensland Inc.
Case Studies & Member’s Comments

Small businesses within our Shire report issues with the use of EFTpos – which relies on
telephony to work. Having the closest bank at least 250 km away means a heavy reliance on
EFTpos and internet banking. Businesses have suffered due to an inability to sell product,
travellers have had negative experiences (and therefore given negative advice to fellow
travellers with impacts in turn upon remote businesses) trying to purchase goods and fuel.
When significant local events are on the whole system cannot cope with the increased traffic
and shuts down. During a key festival event in our local in 2014 there was limited EFTPOS
(no guarantees at any time – just more luck of the draw if it worked), mobile and internet
coverage for 3 days which was very frustrating for businesses, attendees and event
promoters. At this year’s rodeo in the next town over (approximately 165km away) our staff
who were there for 3 days had no mobile and internet coverage for the whole weekend, had
trouble buying items from both the town and mobile shops that were selling items at the
rodeo e.g. boots, hats, jeans which they wished to purchase for work as well as foodstuffs
and petrol to return home.
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We have limited mobile coverage – intermittent at nights, none during the day and better in
summer than winter. It is not a reliable alternative and we have tried legal boosters, Yagi
antennas etc. and whilst it does mean we get more bars therefore a stronger signal it does
not mean we get mobile coverage more often than before.
This is a key reason why internet and telephone delivery have to be provided via separate mediums.
On one occasion about 4 years ago over half the Shire was without phones due to a snake
decamping into the Telstra infrastructure and shorting out the entire system. Phones were out for
many weeks, roads were cut due to wet season influence and many people’s internet was also down
due to inclement weather (meaning the satellite signal was unable to be picked up due to cloud
cover and/or rain). We had to resort to UHF between neighbours where possible and utilising a
network of neighbours until a message could be gotten to someone who had phone and/or internet
to relay a message to the wider world/intended recipient. Unfortunately due to the size and
remoteness of some of the properties in our area UHF was not always successful as the base station
was too far from other properties for the transmission to be picked up and several properties were
loaned a satellite phone from the local council who hired a helicopter to deliver the equipment .
Isolated Children’s Parents’ Association Queensland Inc.
Attachment 2
Page
The local Council faces significant issues in conducting its business on behalf of its ratepayers as well
as meeting corporate and governmental requirements. The use of a cloud based platform for
storage and delivery of documents has created potential innovative and timesaving opportunities
but speed has created issues with access and fullest utilisation of its capabilities. There are
3
We have been told that one of the potential reasons for delay in rectifying faults is the paucity of
replacement parts and the location of those parts and the time therefore required to deliver them to
the local service centre. We have two technicians servicing an area west to the NT border, north to
Kowanyama, south to approximately 180km north of Cloncurry and East towards Georgetown
including islands in the Gulf of Carpentaria. They do their very best at all times but it is a large region
to cover and at times it is physically impossible to provide a prompt response.
2015 Regional Telecommunications Review
ICPA Queensland Inc.
Case Studies & Member’s Comments
challenges with developing projects, accountancy and compliance obligations as well as attracting
and retaining businesses to ensure long term sustainability of the Local Government Area.
Additionally it is difficult to achieve improved operational efficiencies as there is no capability for
example to undertake remote monitoring of key infrastructure e.g. water pumps, as well as monitor
rivers etc. for safety reasons.
See below for recent speed tests in the main town in our shire:
Shire Town
Date
23/8
Down
1.37Mbps
Up
0.68Mbps
Ping
121ms
Connect Cellular
Lat
-17.7452
Long
139.5467
Date
Down
Up
11/3
1.91Mbps
0.75Mbps
126ms
Cellular
-17.7445
139.5466
31/3
1.21Mbps
0.25Mbps
106ms
Wi-Fi
-17.7445
139.5483
Melbourne
8 May 2015
80.09Mbps
40.69Mbps
Case Study 2
We are a family owned and run beef grazing company that operates properties in several areas of
Queensland as well as leasing some country in two different areas of the Northern Territory. Living
in a rural and remote area leads us to depend heavily on internet and telephony in order to
overcome the obstacles of distance and isolation. We and our staff who reside on the properties
with us use the internet for business, schooling, health issues as well as personal use and
socialization. We have several different internet set ups depending on what is available in the region
of each property, and at present we are having the most difficulty with our satellite services.
Isolated Children’s Parents’ Association Queensland Inc.
Attachment 2
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We employ 6-8 full time staff, an additional 6-8 people seasonally (Mar- Dec) as well as contract
mustering teams, truck drivers, helicopter pilots, agents and other occasional people who also need
access to communications when at our property; 18 kms of gravel road south of house and 40kms
gravel north of house, rest of roadway is mainly bitumen. Several river crossings cut access to the
property off during the wet season. This property is located on a major thoroughfare for tourists and
locals in both winter and summer who wish to access camping, national parks and fishing to the
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Property 1 – 110 km from Camooweal on the Qld/NT border. 237,000 hectares.
2015 Regional Telecommunications Review
ICPA Queensland Inc.
Case Studies & Member’s Comments
Telephony- All HCRC (High Capacity Radio Concentrator) service.
4 landlines as well as one blue phone which is used by staff and those needing assistance on
the road. Being in a rough terrain area, break downs are very common for those travelling
on the road that bisects our property and heads towards the national parks. We sometimes
see 1-3 breakdowns a day in our area in peak season and travellers often need to make calls
to request RACQ, spare tyres or other vehicle parts. Sadly, at times our phone is also needed
for medical emergencies due to accidents on the road or unwell travellers. This is the only
property located close to the road the entire length of the drive from Mount Isa to the
township of Gregory, a distance of 314kms. The nearest alternative phone is the neighbour
38kms away or the quarry 20kms away. We have had significant trouble in the past with the
phone systems being down in the area (the full area covered by the exchange, not just our
property, so it can sometimes be over 100 kms to the next working landline.) Delays to
repair the fault can range from 24 hrs to 3 weeks or more at times. Having technicians visit
that are familiar with the HCRC system is becoming more difficult and we sometimes have to
wait quite a while for parts needed for repair to be sourced. Telstra’s dedicated 1800
RRADIO fault line is greatly appreciated as we can be directed to customer service
representatives who hopefully understand the situation where we live, however, when the
phone is out, it can be difficult to report the fault without phone service. Often a relay via
UHF radio from neighbour to neighbour is needed until someone in the district who still has
phone service can be reached to report the phone outages for all. An email fault reporting
service was established for RRADIO and it was also very effective, however in the last six
months we have had 2 email fault reports not replied to. Many people in this district are on
generator power, and some do not run their gen sets in the day time (there is no mains
power available in this area)- so access of fault reporting via email for these people has to
wait until evening when generators are running- and the email fault service may not be
monitored at night (it used to be picked up the following day). When the phones are out for
lengthy periods, it magnifies the use of the internet significantly as all messages and
communication is then attempted via email- which can be very time consuming as well as
not being able to be ‘immediate’ for replies and answers to questions. When we have the
stock camps out working, they have no internet access, but need to be able to contact the
station via satellite phone to receive information regarding truck movements, mustering and
other plans. The drive back to the station to receive these instructions can be over 100kms
Isolated Children’s Parents’ Association Queensland Inc.
Attachment 2
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north. No mobile coverage on property, although a text can be downloaded in a couple of narrow
places if on a hill and environmental conditions are favourable. There is a mine approximately 40
kms away with a private mobile tower, but we do not receive service from this due to the
surrounding hills. A private fibre optic cable runs the length of our property approximately 500 m
from the homestead and supplies mobile coverage to a larger mine to the north, but we do not have
access to this coverage. Closest reliable mobile coverage is in sporadic positions along the Barkly
Highway heading towards Mount Isa (200kms away) but not continuous until 35 kms outside of
Mount Isa (165 kms from our property) or in the town of Camooweal itself if going west (110kms
away). Coverage along the Barkly Highway should improve with increased service under the Mobile
Black Spot Program- however we are 75kms from the Barkly Highway.
2015 Regional Telecommunications Review
ICPA Queensland Inc.
Case Studies & Member’s Comments
round trip and very time consuming and frustrating for staff. In the past few months, we
have had only a few, quickly resolved phone outages. However, it has not been uncommon
for us to have 6 or more significant outages a year (several days to weeks) in the past. When
our children were enrolled in Mount Isa School of the Air, these phone outages affected our
children’s school lessons immensely. We currently have children away at boarding school
and university. It can be difficult for schools to contact parents regarding their children
when the phones are not working. For children who are studying away from home in order
to access appropriate schooling, telephone service is crucial in order for them to receive
emotional support from family when they face problems and to also remain part of the
everyday lives of those back home when they are studying so far away.
Internet- 5 satellite services, 3 of which are nbn Interim Satellite Services (ISS).
o Main house/office 20GB/25GB $49.95 shaped plan. We had originally signed up for
the 60GB unleashed plan which was available anytime and not shaped, but we paid
for excess usage- however with the new satellite limitations, we have 20GB peak
and 25 GB off peak on a shaped plan. We rarely if ever reach our usage quota,
mainly because the service is so slow that many things cannot be accessed, so not
much is being used. We have noticed a considerable difference in the speed we
have been receiving over the last 6 months and now again another reduction of
speed in the last 3 months or so. It is very difficult to work with – banking and
online transfers such as the NLIS (National Livestock Identification Scheme) tag
transfers which are a government regulation, time out and cannot be completed.
We have been relying on friends in town to do the NLIS uploads for us when we can
take the stock reader into town to be transferred- this however does not meet the
government protocol of transfers being completed within 24 hours of the cattle
being moved from the property. Emails fail to download or send- most often, we
open the email program and leave it running over night and pick up the emails in the
morning once they have downloaded. Anything with a file or photo attached is
nearly impossible to send (even with the file zipped or reduced). We have resorted
to using a shared dropbox folder to try to get files to our accountant and bank so
that it can continue to upload in increments rather than time out like an email and
the accountant can then access the file once it’s fully uploaded. When our children
are at home, they find it very difficult to access the sites that they need to in order
to work on their study and most times abandon the attempts and complete
assignments in a rush once they have returned to school and can access faster
internet. In order to be globally competitive as a business, we should be taking
Isolated Children’s Parents’ Association Queensland Inc.
Attachment 2
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Remote monitoring systems (where watering points, paddock condition and stock can be viewed
remotely saving hours of driving and wear and tear on vehicles and staff hours) is something we can
only dream about as we do not have the mobile access to allow for these technologies to be used.
During bush fire season, access to fire tracking sites is also limited to when people are in at the
station or relaying messages. Increased mobile coverage would greatly assist with fire management
in the area.
2015 Regional Telecommunications Review
ICPA Queensland Inc.
Isolated Children’s Parents’ Association Queensland Inc.
Attachment 2
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o
advantage of overseas market opportunities, but we cannot send photos of our
cattle or view videos of stock sales etc…at present on the system with the speed the
way it is. Being able to send video or photos of our stock in the paddock to potential
buyers saves an infinite amount of time as the agent or buyer does not have to drive
hundreds of kilometres to look at the cattle and the cattle are less stressed as they
can just be photographed in their natural paddock surroundings rather than being
mustered in for a viewing. We cannot take advantage of industry growth and
learning by the ever increasing amount of webinars as we cannot participate in them
due to our internet speed. We cannot download market report webpages or emails.
Our managers at our other properties often try to send photos of the paddock or
cattle condition for us to access, and at the moment, only a few can be sent (each in
separate emails) at a time and we must open the program and leave it running all
night in order to hopefully see the images in the morning once they have
downloaded during the off peak time (it is nearly impossible to get them to
download during peak times). Some days are worse than others, Sundays are
particularly bad for internet access and we usually give up trying and wait until the
following day to try to send or receive emails then. We have had other stations tell
us that they cannot get invoices to us as the internet is too slow and they won’t go
through. The Royal Flying Doctor at times asks us to send photos of accidents,
injuries, etc…to them for assessment of patients. At present, the speed is so slow
that these rarely go through, which means the RFDS doctor either travels out if the
condition is possibly serious or the patient must be transported to town, when
sometimes a photo can help with beginning the treatment process or deciding which
method of patient transport is needed. While the price of this plan looks very
reasonable, it is insufficient in internet speed to allow us to do the many things we
need to do via the internet to run a viable business or have essential services such as
education and health safety in this rural and remote environment.
3 internet systems on 3GB anytime shaped $34.95 and one older plan of 10GB
anytime for $39.95 are used by staff for personal use, banking, communicating with
family etc…in the last few months these have all reached their quota and been
shaped. At the time we selected these plans (2013 for the 3GB and 2010 for the
10GB) these were the largest shaped plans we could access and we chose them so
that staff would not “blow out the plans” and be charged large amounts for excess
usage since different people use the access and it is difficult to determine who has
used different amounts of the plan each month. Once they hit the quota and
become shaped, staff find them even more difficult to use due to speed and are
often driving long distances at night in order to reach mobile coverage in order to
send and receive messages as well as do banking. This is a concern to us as an
employer as it means staff can be tired during work time as well as it becomes
difficult to keep staff as they expect modern conveniences of mobile coverage and
adequate internet. Some staff seek employment elsewhere where they can obtain
the level of services they are accustomed to. We currently have a married family
employed with us that have 2 school aged children. The mother is living in town so
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Case Studies & Member’s Comments
2015 Regional Telecommunications Review
ICPA Queensland Inc.
Case Studies & Member’s Comments
that the children can attend school at present as the internet is so slow on the
property that there is concern that they will not be able to access their distance
education lessons that are delivered online if they enrolled with a school of distance
education. We would really like to continue to employ this family, but living apart
may prove to be too difficult for them and they may choose to go somewhere that
they know the internet will meet the educational needs of their children.
Property 2 - 80k north of Camooweal 146,000 hectares. 4- 6 staff. No mobile coverage on property.
80kms to closest mobile coverage all black soil dirt road, impassable when wet. 2 children now at
boarding school- youngest child in primary school but distance education was very difficult for this
family and they chose to access schooling for their children through boarding in town. Part of the
distance education problems were difficulty in connecting to lessons and accessing material via
internet but not the sole reason for change in education choice.
 Telephony- HCRC system 2 phone lines that go out when district tower has faults and can be
out for 24 hrs to several days. Closest other landline 45kms, or 80kms if entire district is
out. Phone service is very important to the family living on this property as they have an
elderly mother in town that needs to be checked on as well as 2 young children away at
school. All orders for stores, fuel for generator (on generator power, no mains power
available) repair parts etc…are done via phone on this station.
 Internet – satellite internet. Speed is slow, but staff there at present are not heavy internet
users so meeting needs for these people at present. Do have problems when need to send
photos of broken machinery or water bores, etc…to shops to identify repair parts and also
have trouble with timing out with certain things such as local event nominations. Phone
and post are the still main sources of communications for the people at this property.
Isolated Children’s Parents’ Association Queensland Inc.
Attachment 2
Page
Property 4 – 11km from Muttaburra and 135ms from Longreach. 18,101 ha.
Sporadic mobile coverage around property. Can be accessed in homes by use of Yagi aerial. 11kms
to closest consistent mobile coverage and then only in town itself. Only continuous mobile
coverage in this area in is towns. Black soil road impassable in wet weather. 2 full time staff and
casual staff and other users occasionally.
8
Property 3- group of several blocks 60km south of Richmond. 62,307ha. 2 permanent staff, 3 people
living in main house and 2-4 casual staff. No mobile coverage on property, although some small
areas, such as on top of the water tank will allow people to download messages. Closest consistent
mobile coverage 60kms away access is via a black soil dirt and partial bitumen road impassable in
wet weather.
 Telephony- 3 HCRC phone lines. Service has been fairly reliable in this area.
 Internet – One Broadband Satellite (pre nbn) $66/month 3GB peak and 5 GB non peak per
month shaped plan. Plan hits quota fairly regularly depending on how many additional staff
are there and number of visitors. Business use would be photos of paddocks, cattle, dams,
NLIS transfers, downloading forms, banking, orders and photos for repair as well as health
needs. Speed meets needs most of the time however once shaped is very difficult to work
with.
2015 Regional Telecommunications Review
ICPA Queensland Inc.
Case Studies & Member’s Comments
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Telephony- HCRC – 3 landlines. Service has been pretty reliable in this area and outages
short with repairs usually within 24-48 hours and serviced from Longreach.
Internet – 2 Telstra Next G mobile services 8 GB/month $55. Must have Yagi aerial to reach
signal, but internet works adequately when connected. Very low internet users at this
property- access to newspapers, news, orders, NLIS transfers, sending invoices and photos of
the property and stock as well as quotes etc…all seem to go through adequately, speed is
not a large issue here and 8GB for each service has been sufficient. No children for school
involvement.
Isolated Children’s Parents’ Association Queensland Inc.
Attachment 2
Page
Our basic concern is that at present the satellite broadband services that we have on the various
properties are extremely slow, and at times so slow that they are basically unusable. Internet in
rural and remote areas simplifies communication in many ways when it is working effectively, and it
can also help cover when phone service fails for a short time. It is an extremely useful tool that
could be embraced and used to bring about more development in rural and remote areas if it could
be implemented effectively. Mobile internet plans are very costly in comparison to what is available
in urban areas and staff and businesses easily hit their monthly quota, often going over. Staff have
an expectation of reliable basic services in order to perform banking, access education, keep in touch
with family and access shopping, book appointments and other needs. It is very difficult to retain
staff in rural areas when basic communications services such as mobile and reliable, fast internet are
not available. Staff and their families move elsewhere to have these needs met. Businesses cannot
develop to their full potential and are being held back due to lack of adequate internet services.
Online marketing, property reports, remote monitoring and many other innovations are areas that
rural and remote businesses would like to develop but cannot fully be explored and implemented
9
Property 5- 10kms from Jambin, 35kms from Biloela and 160 south of Rockhampton (closest large
centre) 2428ha. Normally 2 permanent staff. No mobile coverage at house, but can be accessed by
Yagi aerial. Closest consistent mobile coverage at Biloela and Jambin in town only. Spotty coverage
on highway between Biloela and Rockhampton, but should improve with Mobile Black Spot round 2
allocations of additional services. 10 km gravel road to bitumen Burnett Highway. Road is cut by
running creeks during large water flows/tropical cyclones in big wet seasons. Next landline 2.5 kms.
 Telephony- copper wire. Fairly reliable service. Line is washed away in area during flooding
and can leave people without phone services for several weeks. Recently in Feb of 2015,
phone line was washed away in Tropical Cyclone Marcia and property was without service
for several weeks. Unlike RRADIO that has a dedicated faults team, it was very difficult to
contact someone who could understand the situation in the area. Roads were cut due to
flood waters and all landlines were out but it was very difficult for anyone else to organize
changes to the phone service even when listed on the account.
 Internet 4G mobile service with Telstra 15GB $115 per month. Non shaped, pay for excess.
Frequently hit quota and goes over usage. Business use would be receiving invoices, emails,
forms, banking, NLIS transfers, photos for property reports, cattle sales webinars, access to
market reports, etc. Internet is not used on a large scale for tv or movie watching, although
some video of industry related items is viewed if quota has not been used near the end of
the month (such as Landline or bull sales).
2015 Regional Telecommunications Review
ICPA Queensland Inc.
Case Studies & Member’s Comments
due to communications limitations. Education and health are two areas where telecommunications
has the opportunity to overcome the barrier of distance and improve living conditions for those in
the most isolated parts of the country, but at the moment, the speed and reliability of satellite
internet and the cost of mobile internet are stumbling blocks for those living in rural and remote
regions.
Member near Mungallala (Qld)
I myself don’t have much to complain about, as apart from not always having enough data some
months, our internet is reasonably adequate although is very slow in the afternoon and sometimes
internet banking is impossible. This sometimes can affect our business transactions. I generally try
to get things done early in the day to avoid problems.
We have had our phones dropping out or going off recently, especially on cloudy days. The batteries
needed to be replaced at the repeater, but they had to be ordered in and then we had to wait for a
technician to be available to drive out to install them. This took about a month all up. I haven’t
heard if this has actually been done yet, but haven’t had any problems for a few weeks now.
I have had comments from some members that are on the satellite with children doing high school
via distance ed that they require the internet and data a lot more and that the 20G is not adequate.
Both families that commented on this have been lucky enough to have more than one ISS service
installed on their properties before they ran out of space and restricted the amount of services you
were able to install, (school room, house or quarters) so they have the opportunity to use both
services to complete whatever they have to. Others that I have heard that are on Next G (I think) and
are just on the edge of the coverage and didn’t qualify for the NBN ISS, having a lot of trouble with
their speeds and decent plans that are available. Some have tried boosters and had some luck;
others haven’t had the same result.
Page
Member near Isisford Qld
(Next G)
Sorry, our internet speed is so slow I could not open the links in your email to read about the review.
10
Member near Condamine,Qld
(Next G)
I can comment on the business side of things in terms of constant internet drop outs and lagging
service response times for any phone/internet issues out here as well. We went without our phone
and internet for about a week (yes I know it’s not that bad compared to some), and trying to run the
business (especially because I use Phoenix Live) was nearly impossible! Particularly at end of
quarter!! Even as a business customer they promise the world but don’t deliver out here. Small rural
businesses must suffer terribly in many of our rural and remote areas due to the inequity in
communication services as compared to metro areas.
Isolated Children’s Parents’ Association Queensland Inc.
Attachment 2