New Telstra tower and $3.7m NBN network

More than $3.7 million has also been allocated to provide fixed wireless broadband to the towns of Moulamein and Wakool.

This project will be delivered by NBN Co.

The funding for both was allocated under round three of the Australian Government’s Regional Connectivity Program.

Federal Member for Farrer Sussan Ley particularly welcomed the $719,541 investment at Picnic Point, after lobbying Telstra for much of this year.

Ms Ley said the riverside tourist area east of Mathoura was a hugely popular destination for visitors all year round, and particularly for recreational fishing and boating.

“On a previous visit, the key concern expressed to me by locals was next to no mobile coverage, which I suspect is mainly caused by the heavily forested surrounds,” Ms Ley said.

“It’s been a bit of a battle to get this money but it’s great news for residents, businesses and emergency services and, of course, our visitors.

“My thanks to Telstra for making the successful funding submission, with the next step being a design, site selection and approvals process.”

The new tower at Picnic Point will be designed to will deliver a new macro mobile site providing improved mobile coverage and capacity.

Murray River Council Mayor Frank Crawley said he too was particularly buoyed by the Picnic Point Project.

He said having unreliable service at Picnic Point was “absolutely a major risk”, and not just in peak tourism times.

He said the heavily forested area on the banks of the Murray River is also susceptible for fire and flooding.

“The expectation is that all communities need good communication,” Cr Crawley said.

“Certainly in our Community Strategic Plan a main goal has been to improve connectivity.

“These investments will fix the bulk of the problem in our area, and we will get further reports on some of the other areas that need to be addressed.

“Council has done a lot of lobbying on this topic, and it is good to see that hard work coming to fruition.”