Mobile tower in The Quay switched on

MOBILE phone reception in Torquay North has improved with the installation of a Telstra 4G base station in The Quay estate.

The base station, which has replaced one of the light towers overlooking The Quay Reserve but will reuse the same lights, went live in late December.

Telstra regional general manager Jenny Gray said the tower being switched on last week meant mobile phone users would get better experience just in time for Christmas and the New Year.

“With the growth of the North Torquay community and more people working from home, the mobile base station will deliver new and improved 4G coverage to the area, providing better depth of coverage and more capacity to the area.”

There were several community objections about the tower during the planning process, mostly about the perceived health risks of a possible future 5G installation, and Telstra has confirmed it will add 5G coverage to the tower in 2022.

“We also plan to upgrade this site to 5G by mid-next year, delivering the potential of even faster speeds and more capacity for customers in the area,” Ms Gray said.

The council first exhibited a planning permit application from Telstra for a tower in the north-eastern corner of The Quay Reserve in November 2018 and held a subsequent a hearing of submissions meeting in February 2019.

This application for the facility at 2 Quay Boulevard received 124 submissions in support and 36 objections.

Following the meeting, Telstra formally amended the application by changing the location of the proposed telecommunication facility to the reserve’s south eastern corner.

This amended application was publicly exhibited in July 2019, where it received another six submissions in support and another 40 objections.

In March 2021, the Australian Radiation Protection and Nuclear Safety Agency announced it had carried out two new reviews with Swinburne University of Technology that found no evidence of adverse health effects from the radio waves used in 5G.