The Port Fairy 5G upgrade dream is about to become reality, with Telstra saying the new network will go live any day now.
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The tourist hub has long been notorious for its mobile speed and coverage, especially during peak tourist seasons when the tiny town's population can increase 20-fold.
Telstra only officially announced the upgrade last month, saying works were still in the early stages and probably wouldn't be completed until later in the year.
But Telstra's regional general manager Steve Tinker said the company had heard the calls of residents and was keen to get the works done before the Port Fairy Folk Festival, when the network was at its most strained.
"Bringing Telstra's 5G network to Port Fairy for the first time is a gamechanger and means customers with 5G devices will be able to experience faster download speeds, greater capacity during the busiest times on the network and better connectivity," Mr Tinker said.
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In addition to the 5G network, Telstra was also installing more 4G bands to the Port Fairy network. Mr Tinker said that would help spread the load and even out the peaks and troughs in service when the population fluctuated.
The Telstra mobile tower has been switched off while the technicians upgrade the site and will remain off for the next few days.
Mr Tinker said a portable mobile base station had been brought into town to provide basic mobile services. He said landline and nbn services weren't affected and Telstra hoped to "minimise any disruptions while the work occurs".
The upgrade will be finished by March 5. Mr Tinker said the temporary tower would provide "some coverage" in the interim.
He gave local Telstra mobile customers a tip while the network was down, advising them to activate wi-fi calling on their phones when they were at home or at work, allowing them to make calls using the wi-fi network.
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Ben Silvester
Correspondent covering key issues across regional Victoria, based in Melbourne.
Correspondent covering key issues across regional Victoria, based in Melbourne.
