STRONG SIGNAL: Phone tower planned for future housing area

A MOBILE infrastructure builder is seeking pre-approval for an Armstrong Creek phone tower to improve coverage at a mobile blackspot.

Stilmark has applied to the City of Greater Geelong to build a new tower at 15 Baenschs Lane – a farm-zoned property just off Barwon Heads Road, near its intersection with Lower Duneed Road.

The builder is proposing to get ahead of expected demand for the currently undeveloped region but said it would only build its structure after it found a telco partner to use the new structure.

The proposed site is about 4.5 kilometres from the nearest mobile phone base station in an area that has a documented history of poor service as its population has expanded.

Telco giants Telstra and Optus each have towers proposed within 3km of the Baenschs Lane site, while another Optus facility 3.6km to the north is soon due to come online.

However, Stilmark’s planning report notes modern phone services become unreliable beyond 1km from base stations, which it said proved “a clear need for an additional facility in the southern Armstrong Creek/Connewarre area”.

The infrastructure company said its new tower would “cater for a projected future need by the carriers in this area”.

Stilmark said it was “confident that there will be a future demand for the proposed structure given the extensive urban development in the locality and seeks an approval on that basis”.

It said it would not build the structure until it locked in a carrier to use the facility to limit the impact on the community from unnecessary structures – but is seeking pre-approval for the facility to speed up the expected build.

Meanwhile, it left the door open for multiple telcos to use the new facility to improve coverage for a range of mobile customers.

“Once the structure is in place, it will also be suitable and available for collocation by a second (or potentially third) carrier,” the report stated.

“This preference and preparation for collocation will also help to minimise the number of such structures in the council area and give Council an improved basis on which to drive collocation when new facilities are proposed.”

Patchy phone reception has been a source of community angst in the fast-growing Armstrong Creek area.

A petition from Corangamite federal member Libby Coker last year calling for improved service attracted more than 400 signatures.