Bundeena / MaianbarTelecommunications Survey

March 2015

Contents

Summary ...........................................................................................................1

Background........................................................................................................2

Survey Methodology..........................................................................................2

Results ...............................................................................................................3

Landline Telephones ..............................................................................................................3Internet...................................................................................................................................9Mobile ..................................................................................................................................17

Questionnaire ..................................................................................................31

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SummaryBundeena and Maianbar are two relatively isolated communities on the southern fringe ofSydney metropolitan area. The telecommunications services on which many residents relyheavily for work, study and social purposes are unreliable and of generally poor quality. Theinfrastructure is in poor condition, with the existing copper network reported to be badlydegraded.

In late 2014 problems with telecommunications services were compounded by the loss of thesubmarine cable connecting Bundeena and Cronulla, causing sudden widespread disruptionto telecommunications for many local residents and businesses. Subsequent work on thecopper wire network has not returned services to an acceptable level.

Responding to community concerns, the Bundeena Maianbar Chamber of Commerceconducted a community survey in February 2015 which found:

Service interruptions for landline phones and internet have been widespread, frequentand prolonged

Most internet connections are via ADSL and are very slow (when they work at all).Average reported speed on ADSL is around 3.25 Mbps

Many locals run their own business or work from home and there is a very highdegree of reliance on telecommunications services

There is widespread dissatisfaction with the quality and reliability of landline, mobileand internet services

Mobile reception is generally very poor, particularly for customers of providers otherthan Telstra

Most people (around 81%) support the building of a mobile tower in Bundeena orMaianbar

The lack of mobile reception in and around the Bundeena area is also recognised as posingsignificant public safety risks. Access to Bundeena or Maianbar by road involves a 24kmdrive through bushland on poor quality, unlit roads – often at night and/or in poor weather.Bundeena and the surrounding Royal National Park are also high bushfire risk areas whichattract thousands of visitors per day during the summer months.

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BackgroundBundeena and Maianbar are two small communities in the south of Sydney, bordered by PortHacking to the north and surrounded by the Royal National Park on all other sides. In the2011 census the population of Bundeena was 1,894 and Maianbar’s was 523 (Census ofPopulation and Housing, 2011)1. Despite being part of the Sydney metropolitan area thesetwo villages are relatively isolated, with the only means of access being a 20-minute ferry tripfrom Cronulla or a 30-minute drive from Sutherland or Waterfall. Functionally, in terms ofprovision of basic services (water, electricity, sewerage, landlines), Bundeena and Maianbarcan be considered to be on an island.

The two communities are also very poorly served in relation to telecommunicationsinfrastructure. Landline services are unreliable and prone to frequent and prolonged outages,mobile reception is poor or non-existent and internet speeds are extremely slow.

In part because of relatively long travel times to other parts of the Sydney region, manyresidents run their own home-based businesses or work from home for their employer andrely heavily on phone and internet services to make this possible.

In July or August 2014 the submarine cable linking Bundeena to Cronulla was badlydamaged, resulting in large parts of Bundeena being without telephone and/or internetservices for periods of up to several months. Telstra have not repaired the cable, but haveinstead installed two additional top hats to service Telstra customers only. Telstra has alsoindicated that it has no plans to upgrade the decaying and fault-prone copper network in thelocal area. Service problems continue to be frequent and many residents (including Telstracustomers) report that internet speeds have worsened.

In February 2015, in response to increasing community distress, the Bundeena MaianbarChamber of Commerce conducted a community survey to quantify the nature and extent oftelecommunications problems in the local community.

Survey MethodologyA copy of the Bundeena Maianbar Chamber of Commerce telecommunications questionnairewas distributed via letterbox delivery to every residence in Bundeena and Maianbar –approximately 1,000 households in total. An online version of the questionnaire was placedon Survey Monkey. A total of 197 responses were received (117 online and 80 in hard copy)giving an overall response rate of approximately 20%.

1 http://www.abs.gov.au/census

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Results

Landline Telephones176 survey respondents (89%) have landline telephones. Of these, about two thirds (65%) areTelstra customers.

The vast majority (96%) of households with a landline service have been with their currentprovider for 12 months or longer.

Many residents rely on their landline telephone for work, study and medical alert systems.For example, almost a third (32%) of all respondents indicated that they rely on their landlinetelephone to run their own business.

In the 12 month period leading up to the date of the survey 134 respondents (68%) reportedhaving experienced at least one service interruption. The overall average was 4.1 occasions.

Service Provider RespondentsNumber of times service interrupted

Minimum Maximum Average

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Service Provider RespondentsNumber of times service interrupted

Minimum Maximum AverageOptus 17 1 10 3.4Telstra 46 1 36 4.5Other 10 1 10 3.2All 73 1 36 4.1

The average estimated number of days without a working telephone service was 23 days.

Service Provider RespondentsNumber of days without service

Minimum Maximum AverageOptus 17 2 200 36.8Telstra 44 1 90 18.7Other 11 2 120 19.7All 72 1 200 23.0

The majority of the reported service interruptions are likely to be associated with the loss ofthe submarine cable. According to the office of Sharon Bird2 (Federal MP for Cunninghamwhich includes Bundeena and Maianbar), Telstra have indicated that they do not intend toreplace the damaged submarine cable but instead claim that the current level of infrastructureis being managed to its optimum. If this is so, the responses in this survey clearly indicatethat the network’s optimum performance is well below acceptable levels.

Overall, 41% of respondents who have a landline telephone service are satisfied with itsreliability, compared to 49% who are dissatisfied.

Respondents are slightly more positive about the call sound quality of their landlinetelephone service:

2 Phone call on 26 March 2015

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Respondents were invited to make general comments on their landline telephone service.Most of these focused on service problems:

After rain there is static sounds which make incoming and outgoing conversationshard to hear

NEED TO HAVE VOLUME UP HIGH

I work from home and have to interview people and I really struggle on the landlineto be understood and to understand people. Quite unprofessional to have to ask aninterviewee ... can you hear me?

We very rarely use our landline and only have it for internet WIFI connection. Wouldbe happy to get rid of it if possible.

Telstra fault call centre is impossible - diverted to Philippines - limited English. Ihave a Telstra manhole just outside my front yard which is a pit in earth. It isconstantly covered over by dirt in a heavy rain and fills with water and interrupts thephone line service. They frequently can't find it and dig up the grass all around thearea.

My main complaint is that when I lost service I received a text message proudlyundertaking to have it fixed within 30 days. It took 29 days. I don't call this "service"

This is very hard to estimate. There are periods for days on end without phoneservice.

It had been very reliable up until last year

Impossible to get any information from Telstra on cause of disruption or estimated fixtime - this is just as frustrating as not having the service.

Was previously with Telstra and had similar good telephone service

Terrible service and interruptions over many years

Service is OK, but drops in & out in the middle of a call often

Problems in the last 12 months have been with internet (ADSL) via the landline, thetelephone was ok. Took a few weeks to get fixed. Have had phone line problems

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previously when with Telstra and they also took up to 2 weeks to fix. Have been toldby technicians that local lines are very degraded and a mess of 'patch-ups'.

We have no phone services for 2 out of 3 days in the worst periods. At times it takesmonths for a proper solution to be given. Then we may have a phone service workingproperly for a few months. Problems vary from dangling wires off power poles,communications boxes not locked (allowing to be opened and tampered with), wateron the line, etc etc etc etc.

We had water in the street phone box about 7yrs ago that took out service for approx3 days - "remote area" they said. otherwise landline all good

Too long to get technician to attend property during problems

Landline service is ok. Mobile service is appalling. Almost no reception most of thetime.

When the phone line is working the ADSL performance is very poor or not working.When we complained about the ADSL the repair has resulted in PHONE performanceto be very poor or not working. ADSL has priority in our household so we do notcomplain now even though the fixed telephone line is currently not working.

the telephone line is unclear. It is not the handset, as I have bought and tried anumber of different handsets. Apparently it is the quality of the line, and we are at theend of the line.

I answered 'dissatisfied' above because of reliability issues. At the moment the line isfine, but when it goes crackly for days/ weeks on end or cuts off altogether I'm verydissatisfied.

The problem is always external to house and is a Telstra supply issue

when we had no landline service we were told many different things about what theproblem was & how long before it would be fixed.... no one seemed to be able to givean accurate estimation

Ongoing random phone line outages as well as being affected by submarine cableincident for 2 months. Sometimes after heavy rain our line in the street pit becomesaffected. Optus have been accommodating and credited our account when request toassist. Poor ADSL speeds well below other areas of Sydney. The new top hats to theTelstra infrastructure only increases speeds for Telstra customers not other providers.

It took Telstra 2 weeks to send a technician to fix our phone line. Unacceptable. Andno compensation payable because a mass service disruption was declared forsomewhere else in Australia.

At times our home line has been very crackly.

we have had many problems with our phone and internet service, with many callsouts. Currently, the quality on the landline is poor, and the internet is slow

Since the service fault was fixed in mid January we have had much better service, sothe poor rating above is mostly for before then. We tried to get in touch with Telstrato fix our service and they kept telling us they had fixed the problem, but they hadn't.It was only when we got onto the local area manager (thanks to some help fromBundeena chamber of commerce) that something actually happened for it to get fixed.My partner also had to call Telstra from his work in the city and was on hold for

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seriously long times, and then he was put onto someone who would tell him (in a fewdifferent calls) it was all fixed (but it wasn't). As our mobile service was also verylimited, I couldn't call from mobile in Bundeena. Not impressed! We were, however,grateful to the technician who did in fact come to fix our problem properly. He cameout of hours, and said he was worried that we were going to 'attack' him, as he saideverybody else was doing that. Instead, I gave him a cold glass of water and thankedhim. I think people should keep it in mind that it's not his fault. Our line was out ofaction for phone and Internet for about two weeks that time.

The internet speed is quite inadequate. In the past two years we have lost voice for 2-3 weeks, and ADSL for about 3 weeks. Both were the result of failure in the oldcopper wires between our house and the local node!

I think the number of times the landline has been interrupted and the length of time ithas been interrupted is totally unacceptable for the money I pay for the privilege ofhaving Telstra as my provider. I have heard of Telstra customers inBundeena/Maianbar who were given large discounts on their bills because of theseinterruptions...unfortunately not all customers received these discounts. This seemstotally unjust - all customers ought to have received a discount off their billsautomatically!

Broadband service is crap due to bad line

It took 4 weeks for a technician from Telstra to reconnect my landline which is quitean unacceptable waiting time.

Lots of noises, clicks and occasionally interruptions by Muzak

stuck with a landline because there is no mobile coverage here

We have not been affected by the problems that others have had recently. I had aslowing of the Internet last week but it was fixed efficiently by help from a Telstra techsupport person.

We're intending to change providers in the near future

It's the worst, I’ve had problems for five year

Biggest gripe for me is internet speeds. So slow, Skype can't cope.

Every time it rains the access is cut for several days while the lines dry out. Atrociousbroadband service coupled with bad customer service. No NBN in the foreseeablefuture, as we are deemed to be ADSL 2+ area .... please. No one in Bundeena getsADSL 2+ connection speed or through put.

When we first got it connected to the Simpson Road address we had issues with theline dropping out and the sound quality - a techie came and pointed out that thecopper wiring was way overdue to be replaced but he doubted they would do it justfor 2/3 houses

The crackling on the line is terrible so much so that we can't use the phone. My realanswer is that we have had 8 years without a useable service.

Telstra service leaves a lot to be desired. I had to fight for a credit on my account forthe time I had no phone or internet. Telstra said my equipment was at fault when halfof Bundeena was offline.

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We only use our landline to provide us with internet, and don't actually have a phoneconnected to it. Mobile phone reception is disgraceful though

Our service providers service is fine - the problem is due to Telstra's infrastructure

Periodic occurrences where there is no landline available.

Provider is iiNet, but Telstra provides the wires.

Telstra continued with false information to our service provider Optus that the phoneproblems were internal. On the last occasion Telstra snapped our external phone lineand hid the broken wiring under the house eave! Our son reconnected the phonewiring on 15 December 2014!

All ok

I am so sick of calling Telstra to complain and the hours I have spent on the phone tothem over the last 4 years. Usually when it rains heavily our landline would go thenthe internet. So frustrating. I think 5 times each year for a week plus major problemslast year.

it is a waste of time calling telecoms help desk to complain as it is located in Manilla(Philippines) and the fault never gets proper follow up

I run a business from home and need reliable service. To have no phone/internet for 3weeks was a joke

there is often a background crackle on the line. Prior to this year we had constantproblems with the quality and reliability

feeling very frustrated. Why can't it be fixed properly and permanently instead oflasting for 3-4 weeks

landline is crackly due to connecting cable in old rusted conduit

some numbers the call just drops out and always charges involved

apart from submarine cable issues - generally ok

can't ring out on one of two phones

we lose our telephone and internet often. Telstra is the only network to work in theRNP

often very crackly and other end cannot hear all the words

we use our landline for VoIP internet only so never use the telephone or landline

they gave us a $50 credit so we took that and have now disconnected the servicebecause of bad service and line rental costs

get it fixed!

have just changed from Optus to Telstra. Had called the ombudsman to fix up mess

telephone service is now improved after much complaint to Telstra and TIO someyears ago. The TIO arrange a refund of money due to problems

there have been a few occasions when the line has dropped out, but do not know if itwas 'us' or 'them'

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constant issues. Will work fine for a while then back to having issues. Been like thatforever

need better information on repair times and problems

due to lack of mobile coverage being without landline is incredibly risky especiallywith small children living on the bush

very annoying to have provider suggest it's the phone that's the problem when it's aprovider issue.

when the landline went out Telstra did not seem to have current advice we would beoff for a month. Hopeless

cannot get phone, internet and Foxtel working all at once

Needed to go to TIO to get problems sorted. We use landline for business anddisruptions caused major issues for us

Telco's are obviously not communicating to one another as Optus does not knowabout (or wants to listen about) problems most people experience at some timeespecially when weather interrupts town service.

Whilst waiting for Telstra service they said that landline calls would be transferred toa mobile. This did not occur for all calls.

We hardly use the landline

sound quality poorer (crackles) at times ie like when it rains

Our landline doesn't work and hasn't done for a couple of years. We only use mobilesas I was sick of technicians visiting and not solving. Also it is easier without as nomore constant wrong numbers. Our number as one digit different to a Cronullarestaurant - A nightmare!

Our service is VOIP so when we have interruptions to one service it is to both

Internet94% of survey respondents reported having internet access at home. Not surprisingly for arelatively geographically isolated area, a very large proportion of those with internet accessdepend on it for running their own business (39%), working from home for an employer(36%) or for study (44%).

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Due to a production mistake, the hard copy version of the questionnaire did not include thequestion about the respondent’s internet connection type. As a result this information ismissing for 77 responses. 70 of these indicated that they do have an internet connection, but39 did not provide details of their connection speed (perhaps because they had no internetaccess at the time of the survey?). Incomplete responses have been excluded from theanalysis that follows, but it can reasonably be assumed that the results based on the remainingdata are a fair representation of the overall picture.

Of the 104 responses to this question entered via Survey Monkey 92 (88%) nominated ADSLas the connection type.

The average ADSL connection speed is 3.25 Mbps3. This compares very poorly with averageADSL speeds for Australia as a whole (7.78)4.

3 Respondents were asked to use the ZDNet broadband speed test at www.zdnet.com/broadband-speedtest tomeasure their connection speed. Responses which reported ADSL speeds in excess of 20 Mbps (ie. higher thanthe theoretical maximum ADSL speed) have been excluded from the analysis.4 ZDNet speed test comparative data (www.zdnet.com/broadband-speedtest)

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Connection Type ResponsesSpeed (Mbps)

Minimum Maximum Average3G/4G (via mobile phone) 3 12.00 12.00 12.00ADSL 85 0 16.25 3.25Cable 1 1.92 1.92 1.92Other 6 2.99 50.00 23.35Satellite 2 1.94 17.89 9.91All 97 0 50.00 4.80

Poor ADSL performance in Bundeena and Maianbar is a product of the combination of thelong distance to the nearest exchange (in Cronulla) and the poor state of repair of the localcopper wire network, neither of which are likely to improve in the foreseeable future. Thefact that residents stick with ADSL despite its poor performance reflects a real lack of viablealternatives. As detailed later in this report, 4G wireless internet is not an option for manyresidents due to extremely poor reception.

Overall, only 15% of respondents were satisfied with the speed of their internet connection.19% were neutral, while 67% were either dissatisfied (35%) or very dissatisfied (32%). Noservice provider had a net positive rating:

The two questions regarding the frequency and duration of interruptions to internet serviceswere accidently excluded from the online version of the survey. Of the 80 responsescompleted on the hard copy questionnaire, 70 had internet access and 64 of these hadexperienced a disruption to their service in the last 12 months. On average, these respondentsexperienced 4.8 service interruptions in the previous 12 months. The average time withoutinternet service during this period was 22.8 days.

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Days without Internet Service in last 12 monthsService Provider Responses Minimum Maximum AverageNot Specified 5 1 21 8.00iiNet 8 2 30 11.82iPrimus 1 2 42 12.80Optus 17 2 200 37.07Telstra 29 1 90 22.25TPG 5 2 120 25.63Vodaphone 0 6 6 6.00Other 7 1 25 9.11All 72 1 200 22.84

Perhaps not surprisingly, almost two thirds (63%) of respondents are either dissatisfied orvery dissatisfied with the reliability of their internet connection.

Comments:

The extent of the difficulties experienced by respondents can also be inferred from thequantity of comments on this issue.

broadband is slow; ADSL2 cannot be delivered. Broadband is always vulnerableduring prolonged periods of rain.

Have had a few times (at least 3 times) without internet service for a good period oftime

It is generally OK but my service provider Telstra has the slowest speed. Theirwebsites are faster, eg. Outlook and Facebook et al.

Occasionally goes down, once for 3 days

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My internet is on a different line to my home phone and I have had a lot of reliabilityproblems over the last 5 or 6 years. The last disruption resulted in me having topurchase a new modem at my own expense.

Download is fast, upload is very slow

Also have Optus mobile phone and dongle -useless

There would be no internet/telephone service on this street if the repair patchesweren't blending together. I pay for ADSL, yet only get dial-up speeds because of thepathetic network in Bundeena.

SHOCKING SHOCKING SERVICE IN CAPITAL LETTERS

The service is absolutely dreadful, it is slow and drops out constantly. I don't have alandline as it is so crackly when you try to answer it is a waste of time

When I lost my phone line I was forced to purchase a pre-paid 4G pocket modem foraround $100.00 as my wife required internet for her job. The download speed wasclose to 10.0Mbps much better than the landline, however the cost of data wasexorbitant compared to ADSL and the other thing that annoyed me was that you couldonly pre-purchase in blocks which expired after one month, making it an impracticalbackup option.

Typically, I need to unplug my landline phone to get internet access.

It makes me want to cry. I work part time from home and I estimate it takes me threetimes longer to get things done because of my poor internet service. Because my homephone is not a registered business line I was unable to get any compensation for timeand money lost during recent service outages in September 2014. Our mobilereception is also very poor so we can at times be left with no way to communicatewith the outside world. It is worrying if an emergency should occur - and ridiculousto have to worry about that in these modern times.

Speed is too slow for contemporary life and for use for home based business.

Most days it is OK, other days the service is poor or will not connect for some hours.I also have a Mobile WiFi Pocket modem this is also very ON & OFF service (put atower in Bundeena/Maianbar)

Our connection sometimes drops out or goes very slow

The line is very slow, we can just about manage iView but it drops out frequently.Problems in the last 12 months have been with internet (ADSL) via the landline, thetelephone was ok but internet constantly dropping. Took a few weeks to get fixed.Have had phone line problems previously when with Telstra and they also took up to2 weeks to fix. Have been told by technicians that local lines are very degraded and amess of 'patch-ups'.

Intermittent regarding connection

A better question would be "Should you have internet access at home" - Answer Yes.But we do NOT have access at home. When the internet is working we may get1.8Mb/s. The best is 2.39Mb/s. I understand the limitations for ADSL and how thespeed will drop with distance. There is no reason that we cannot have a stable 3Mb/sat my house (this is available at my distance)

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We are "weekenders" and use a Telstra mobile broadband device. Internet is up anddown and sometimes weather dependent.

Over the past 7 years our whole household feels that the speed is getting worse. Weused to get 12 mbps. Now it is really annoying to even stream YouTube.

Woeful. Frustrating. Drops out frequently, sluggish, and renders smart TVs effectivelyuseless.

We can't stream without interruptions. Sometimes many freezes within a shortYouTube or other video. We often have difficulty watching iView, SBS On Demand iseven worse - I have given up trying to watch SBS online. Slow and jerky video without-of-sync audio.

speed is adequate for what we use it for but probably too slow for streaming, provideris dodo via Telstra Bigpond

I am a business coach. I call clients using Skype. Often I have to use my back-upTelstra USB dongle which is satellite run, to make my calls. Often I will be on a Skypecall and the internet drops out. I used to coach from Bundeena in 2007-2010 and thesystem was highly reliable. I moved away for 3 years and returned working fromBundeena since 2013-2015. Since then the internet service has been noticeably poorerand regularly unusable.

Constantly drops out completely, very frustrating in terms of working from home in ahome business, Has been significantly worse in the last 12 months

I keep having usage spiking problems and Telstra is no help in fixing this. I am alsoforced to pay more to access internet using mobile broadband as I have no access to atelephone line and therefore ADSL. My internet costs me a lot more for a lot less.

The speed has vastly improved in the last month. Previously we'd get a max of 3mbps,getting down to 0.5 Mbps. Now getting up to 15 Mbps, but it's not consistent. Sopleased about the recent improvement, but not confident it's here to stay.

Given our proximity to the largest city in Australia this is pretty pathetic!!

Checked speed using 3G mobile wifi as currently have no connections. The internetservice is generally reliable and I only lose it when phone lines go down. Thoughcompared to other parts of Sydney it is very slow.

Today it is actually going faster than most times (usually used more in evenings). Wepay for a service we simply don't get!

Poor ADSL speeds well below other areas of Sydney. The new top hats to the Telstrainfrastructure in Bundeena only increase speeds for Telstra customers not otherproviders.

The service provider (Internode) have always given us excellent service but they areat the mercy of the poor status of the infrastructure. They tell us that they have notbeen able to convince the network provider (Telstra?) that the problems are NOT onour property but are somewhere between us and the exchange.

In the past 12 months we have been without Internet for over 8 weeks total. Althoughwe were able to hot spot our phone to gain access to the Internet it was a veryfrustrating process. Our total number of calls to Telstra during these periods would

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have been well into the double figures and took a long time to rectify. Often beinggiven the wrong information.

It is a bit iffy as is the mobile service

not up to speed most days. have to reboot regularly

the speed tests vary a LOT. But often has been super slow. Tonight it is 5.8.

The service has been getting progressively worse....we used to get in the 2.1-2.3 rangenow we often get 1.4

my technical speed is not great but in reality it is much slower and some evenings isso slow it is useless and downloading videos or watching a program is impossibleattempts to get ADSL 2 have been fruitless despite paying for a business ADSL 2package

tis a little slow

For the money I pay for Telstra to be my provider I believe it is totally unacceptablethat the service has been interrupted as often as it has and for long as it has and nocompensation has been offered!

It's crap but the ISP is good - The line is the problem

Internet is slow and stops. We've complained to TPG and they say it's the line andTelstra do not doing anything as we are not with Big Pond. We used to be with BigPond but it was worse.

WE are paying for a bundle of 200G and have never been able to use more than about10 - 20 % of that amount due to the woeful download speed - That ends up being a lotof money for a service we aren't really getting.

Not only is the broadband speed very slow, but it receives interruptions regularly.When I have queried Optus, they say this is due to the line, and that they are planningto make repairs on it (within the last few months....) UNACCEPTABLE FOR A FULL-PRICE SERVICE PRODUCT.

Our internet cuts out constantly. It is also terribly slow. In order for me to put acustomers order into MYOB and the warehouse it takes about 20 mins. I can do it in 2minutes in our CBD apartment. It is so bad it is a nightmare for me to run mybusiness.

At present satisfied

It is off as often as it is off. When there are problems, no one can tell you why. I spendmore time on the mobile phone trying to sort out issues, only to get long wait times forthe problem to be attended to and never one answer.

Again the issues are due to Telstra's infrastructure and nothing to do with our internetservice provider

Extremely slow and at times unusable. I have had repeated discussions with Optus. Rebooting, change of modem, change of settings does not resolve the issue. Optus admitwe are the furthest from the exchange Ned they can do nothing.

We would like an option other than a wireless modem as we have only 15 Gig permonth, otherwise it is ridiculously expensive. We regularly run out of data and have

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to turn the modem off for about 1 week each month. We really want the NBN fixedfibre service and are happy to get a landline to use it.

After complaints over years, a tech came to site and measured back to the exchange.Problem is length of run, made worse by change of wire gauge at junction betweenunderwater and land cables. With iiNet as provider, Telstra won't talk to me, butTelstra owns the problem hardware.

Appears Telstra phone line is inadequate. Especially seems to occur more regularlyin wet or humid conditions

lose reception when planes fly over or near

all ok - bit slow at 10.30-12pm

It's slow most days - afternoons and nights

At least Telstra give you credits for lack of service

my Bigpond internet is bundled with my voice telephone but it's unreliable

our internet has often been unreliable and slow and drops out for no apparent reason.It has affected our son’s access to online university tutorials and is generallyproblematic. Recent work on the lines has improved it somewhat

loss of service high and restrict usage

it was working a lot faster last time it was fixed

our internet provider has been very good. Helpful, available. Issues we hadoriginated with internet - landline outage due to underwater cable problems

some days ok, others very erratic in connection speeds

we live in Sydney not Antarctica

Telstra is the only service provider who can promise me internet access, otherwise I'duse another carrier

satisfied

tried to get wifi but would not work in our house

at this part of Beachcomber Ave you cannot have ADSL broadband because housesshare cable therefore I have to wifi.

we need NBN (optic fibre from exchange to home) asap

the speed is very slow and regularly drops

wireless broadband

get it fixed!

have based answers on old Optus service however appears interviewee now hasTelstra

we have made enquiries to Optus to be our new service provider but they havedeclined as in our location they cannot guarantee ADSL 2. [One email account] hasno email service for the next 5 days or possibly 10-14 days before email problemsresolved. Also multiple duplicate emails. 40 minutes on phone trying to resolve

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problem. Internet OK. [Other email account] has intermittent email disruption,multiple duplicate emails.

slow

when it's up it's good. When it's down it's useless

up until the issue with the submarine cable we were very happy customers, now noteven fast enough to stream services such as stan.

can't live without it

in this modern age to lose the internet mean all work and bill paying / advice /notification comes to a halt - no replacement offers!

Access slow

Internet service is not reliable at all times

I also have mobile 4G. Compared to this service ADSL is painstakingly slow.Transactions that take 2 seconds on 4G can take 5 minutes. Last night I could notaccess

Internet service in Bundeena is horrible. Service is down 3-4 times daily. We run acharity and rely on the web. Service drops in and out every day

Unreliable service. Reluctant to address problems, Philippines call centre unable tofix problems.

ADSL is so outdated. I had cable in the USA and that was ten years ago!!

I don't know if the speed problems are provider related. I have had lots of problemslately

Too slow

Cancelled internet with Telstra after many years of unreliable reception and service

Very happy [with speed of internet connection]

We support the rollout of NBN. The ADSL2 speeds here are so bad they affect ourcapacity to work at home

MobileThere is no mobile tower in Bundeena or Maianbar. Distances from local residences to thenearest mobile tower (Ewos Parade, Cronulla for Bundeena and Port Hacking Rd, DolansBay for Maianbar) range from approximately 2.15km to 3.2km.

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Nearest mobile towers

Mobile reception in residential areas is generally poor and in some areas non-existent. Evenso, many residents are forced to rely on mobile phones for calls and internet access becausetheir landline services are frequently interrupted and ADSL performance is poor.

98% of survey respondents have a mobile phone. 33% of all respondents rely on a mobilephone as part of running their own business, and 31% for working from home for anemployer:

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54% of respondents with a mobile phone rate their reception at home as either poor or verypoor. Telstra customers are significantly more satisfied with mobile reception than customersof other providers.

45% of respondents rate their mobile call quality at home as either poor or very poor. Again,Telstra customers are the most satisfied with call quality.

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60% of respondents rate their data transfer speeds as either poor or very poor. Telstracustomers were the only group to be (slightly) more positive than negative about data speeds.

In addition to the resident population of approximately 2,500 people, busy summer days cansee an influx of between 2,000 and 3,000 visitors to Bundeena/Maianbar and the adjacentbeaches. Many thousands more are day visitors to the surrounding Royal National Park. Thisarea is extremely bushfire-prone. Bundeena and Maianbar are connected to the outside worldby a single road, as are the other major tourist destinations of Audley, Wattamolla and Garie.In times of bushfire these roads are often cut, potentially trapping thousands of people in theRoyal National Park without any means of communication. This is a significant public safetyrisk.

Residents have to drive at least 26km through the Royal National Park to go to work, goshopping or visit friends or family. Many work and social trips involve driving through thebush at night on poorly maintained, unlit roads which are crossed by large animals such asdeer and wallabies. In bad weather this trip is even more hazardous. Accidents andbreakdowns are frequent. With most parts of the Royal National Park having no mobilereception, people injured in motor vehicle accidents or stranded by breakdowns may be a

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long way from help and with no means of communication.

When mobile phones first became available the network was analog and only the deepest partof the valleys in Royal National Park did not have mobile coverage. Since the switch wasmade to digital, with promises that services would improve over time, there has neveractually been a time when mobile coverage has approached the level of service that wasavailable under analog. This is due to lack of mobile phone towers covering the areas. Line ofsight is much more critical with digital networks and a lack of towers plus hilly terrain inplaces means many more ‘dark’ areas.

When landlines go out, Telstra has offered to divert incoming landline calls to a mobilephone within the household, as a means to keep people in communication. However, withmany households having limited mobile reception, this causes more problems than it solveswith calls dropping out or simply not being received at all. It is not a viable solution for manypeople in these two communities but this does not appear to be acknowledged by Telstra. It isalso not a viable option for those using back-to-base medical alarm systems.

Comments:

Bundeena and through the National Park is a bad area for reception

I have had to get a home zone device to boost the signal in my home, since I can’t getany service at all without it. But the device is not very reliable and goes out for hoursat a time.

I am in a mobile black spot with very poor 4G connection only get 3G.

At home it is fine but in dead areas in Bundeena it is a severe problem

I do not have reception everywhere inside my house - all services cut out in places

Very patchy and not good all over Bundeena. In the park (Bundeena Rd and SirBertram's drive) there is a wide dead patch between Maianbar and Audley. This is notjust an issue for residents but also for visitors and potentially a safety issue with themany walks/trails around the suburb.

Forced to use the most expensive provider because only Telstra has reception.

Also have an Optus phone - very poor

Vodafone promised a tower in Bundeena within 12 months. That was 4 years ago.

Better than the opposition but still hit and miss

it is near impossible to complete a conversation. At times the phone dings to let youknow there is a missed call and the phone doesn't even ring. I feel like I am in a thirdworld country with this service.

there is no service in parts of Bundeena and also along the road through the nationalpark, and given the number of accidents in the park this is a real safety issue

I need to retain, and pay for, my landline service only because of the poor mobileservice

If we do not stand in one particular square metre of our house, then we have nomobile reception - alternatively we can walk out our driveway and stand on the street

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- sometimes it works then. If we leave that one room with our mobile phones then wemiss calls and messages that sometimes don't register for days. Very frustrating!

no mobile reception in the house.

Mobile service is very poor, it is very common to have to call back 2-4 times in onecall because cell drops out

Our provider uses the Optus network

Mobile reception is consistent, but not fast.

When I moved to Bundeena 3G was new and little used. I also had reception rightthrough my house except for one area. Now we get below 1Mb/s, calls cut out andthere are 2 locations I could position my mobile to make a phone call - if I were tomove the phone by centimetres then it will cut out.

performance varies depending which part of the house you are in.

Messages do get through - in and out often, calls break up or go dead all the time.Cannot rely on it and have to continually follow up or use another medium tocommunicate

we have Telstra and Optus. Optus is useless and is rarely able to connect even forSMS. Telstra is heaps better.

Our mobiles are pretty useless at home. Most of the time we have zero reception.Sometimes SMS works but messages are often received long after they were sent -sometimes several hours later. Not good if there should be an emergency.

provider is Dodo via Optus, sound quality and reception is patchy even inside myhouse with clear line of sight to Cronulla and very poor in Bundeena generally andclose to zero in the park.

Reception at my home is good for locations OUTSIDE Bundeena. Within Bundeena itis worse than very poor and totally unreliable. I am housebound and rely on mylandline phone. If it malfunctions I can't depend on mobile communications for localhelp.

The phone only works standing in one spot on the deck outside the house. I am unableto receive or make any calls from inside the house. I can sometimes receive and maketext messages - have one bar in some parts of the house.

Basically can't use it at home.

It's ok to good in most places, but terrible to non-existent in others. It's intermittentwithin my house.

Again, given our proximity to the centre of the largest city in Australia this is prettypathetic!!

Can only get connection in some parts of house.

it drops out all the time. useless and not worth having. I text and hope that will getthrough

virtually no reception in or around my home. I want the option to consider dumpingmy landline and only use my mobile but I can’t consider that option.

My mobile phone is almost unusable at home.

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We also have a mobile hotspot (G4 modem) that uses the Optus network. Telstramobile is poor anywhere in town but Optus is even worse with many areas whereconnection is not possible at all.

works in certain part of house only.

The service in Bundeena is not as good as other places.

seem to get a lot of messages a long time after they have been sent

Might need to change providers if I want to stay living here long term! Terribleservice.

Calls usually cannot be made by mobile from the house

reception is patchy and prone to drop out just by moving around the house

Many other people have difficulties. We are not able to connect with a number ofareas in Bundeena

Reception/service intermittent when in lower parts of Bundeena, e.g. Bundeena Drive,Brighton St

The same as I have said before about the landline and internet - poor service andcustomer care!

It's crap

Reception in Bombora Avenue is totally unreliable, with strength of receptionchanging every second!

Voice reception is very poor to lousy, Using MMS is only possible by standing in themiddle of the street, SMS works best but is also "delayed".

no service at home

Reception is exceptionally poor.

Terrible in Park and no reception in RNP and certain parts of B&M. This is aconstant concern, and getting worse with increased traffic and visitors.

Lucky to get a single bar on iPhone 4 or iPhone 5.

The broadband may be slow, but it is usable - WHERE I LIVE THE MOBILE ISTOTALLY UNUSABLE. The reception is at best 1 bar, and frequently drops out. I amat the far end of Bundeena, near the coastal walk start - it really needs a tower at thisend - desperately...

What more can I say but very poor. You feel like you have won the lottery if you cananswer a call and hear the person on the other end.

The mobile reception is disgraceful in our area. I recently travelled to Vietnam anddrove through a NP there much larger than the Royal NP, and had full strength 3Gservice the whole time. We didn't drive through any villages or towns for miles. Thefact much of the area doesn't have mobile reception is also a danger, with the amountof activities that can be done in the area.

To get one bar we have to have our phones in one corner of the house and not movethem.

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We only have mobiles, no landline currently so we rely on our mobiles tocommunicate with friends and family. It would be much more reassuring if receptionwas better. Data throughput is determined by location and varies within a few metres.This is massively frustrating.

Mobiles are virtually unusable for conversations at home (inside and out), with SMSonly sent/received in a few spots. We also have iiNet mobiles, with same lack ofreception.

Lucky to get 1 bar when making calls. Also quite variable.

Telstra mobile costs extremely expensive especially when we had to ring Optus thatwe had no home line. Optus would not give us a direct number. We would be on holdfor one hour where we would be diverted via India and Melbourne.

unreliable reception

While on a walk I chatted to Telstra mechanic during 'big issues'. He told me theywere putting a 'top hat' exchange but that optic fibre technology in the 'top hat' wasonly available to Telstra customers due to loophole in the law which allows thismonopoly. If true, very annoying as the rest get stuck with underwater cable.

I don’t get reception inside the house - only near certain windows.

Black spots as drive through RNP between Bundeena and Audley.

thank goodness this reception works or we would be totally out of communication.

coverage of roads in the RNP is completely inadequate. Additional solar powered cellsites should be installed on Maianbar road at the water reservoir, Garie turn off andOtford.

no reception in most areas of my house.

quite often our signal drops out and there are dead spots in reception on ourproperty. Mobile phone reception is very patchy.

used principally for urgent calls (doctor, police, breakdown) when in the RNP.

pitiful that is doesn’t work most of the way to Sutherland.

at times no service at all in the house. At best reception is restricted to a small area ofthe house.

doesn’t work in house only out on the street.

I have to wait until I get to work to make calls.

some days reception is better than others.

reception in the home and beachfront is great. Reception in Horderns Lane outsidemy house is zero.

I cannot make or receive mobile calls at home. I can receive texts but usually have towalk down the street to send.

I can't make or receive calls inside the home.

no answers given but have responded that no service to house.

often drops out or doesn’t work at all in the RNP.

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the sound sometimes has a distortion and we need to call again.

get it fixed!

not good in car via bluetooth inbuilt system due to aerial behind in rear window - weneed 1 or 2 more towers.

I have swapped to Telstra now.

cuts out during conversations.

it's the location of home.

no mobile issues to date with Telstra.

knew there was bad reception when we moved in so ensured we had a landline.

average cover - limited to and from home on Bundeena Rd - bad if there is anaccident.

mobile reception ok at home but non-existent in many other parts/houses in Bundeenaand RNP.

We use home internet for mobile devices through WIFI connection.

There is no mobile service through the Royal National Park.

No service when traveling through the park.

Poor reception. When ADSL down can’t use data or phone.

Almost zero mobile phone service. Have to go outside and stand in the street to getany reception.

Mobile does not work in downstairs office.

(Use TPG) We are low on the street, in the gully, so reception is very bad at home. Ihave to call people back on the home line.

We were given a signal booster by Optus which helped signal a little but not much.

very poor 4G mobile reception.

I am in a mobile phone black spot. Very hard to get reception for my mobile. Can get3G sometimes but rarely 4G service.

In 2013 a feasibility study for a mobile tower in Bundeena identified the area behind theBowling Club in Liverpool St as a suitable location. However, for reasons unknown, thistower was not built.

81% of survey respondents support the building of a mobile tower in Bundeena or Maianbar.

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Support for a mobile tower is stronger in Bundeena (82%) than in Maianbar (62%).

Mobile Tower Comments:

And a tower through the National Park.

It would be unlikely to affect me personally but I think there is enough technologyaround now to not need this.

Not just for my connection but for the Royal National Park. Emergency services arehard to call in case of an emergency or being lost in park.

Absolutely. We need it badly for fire brigade communications and for the dead spotsin Bundeena. The situation at present is dangerous in the dead areas e.g.as a surgeonon call I cannot stay in a dead area for long when on duty. It is not a matter of justinconvenience for me as a surgeon and as a voluntary fire fighter in the RFS.

I have to use a landline because the reliability and reception of all the mobileproviders is so poor. If we had a tower built I could cancel the landline.

Provided all providers agree to use. Would leave the providers to choose delivery.

Accident emergency calls and bush fire reporting is not possible from the many blackspots in Bundeena and surrounding area. Many visitors are using Optus-basedphones which don't work in many parts of Bundeena and the road through NationalPark. This is a life and death safety issue.

Anything to fix our terrible telecommunications service in this area.

How about near the water tower at Maianbar and at the same time what about fixedwireless NBN as we seem to be the forgotten people on the NBN rollout.

This is a no-brainer - but the tower also needs to be effective for bushwalkers (etc.) innational park.

A resounding yes to a mobile tower - build it at the front of our house - I don't carewhere it is! They are not that bad looking and it would make an enormous differenceto the community.

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Conditional on it being not visually intrusive, especially for users of the RoyalNational Park. Not on Jibbon Hill (former night soil depot which is being added intothe RNP) which is the largest transgressive relic cliff dune in the Sydney basin thatstraddles two uplands swamps which are home to an eastern pygmy possum colony.

A tower is long overdue in Bundeena/Maianbar, the sooner they build one the better,as we have had very poor service (if any at all) for a long time. This needs to doneASAP.

with proper environmental and social consideration.

While unsightly, good connection to mobile services is essential, and allows lessdependence on the poor landlines. There are currently several areas in Bundeenawith no connectivity.

If you're going to put it on the hill behind my house forget it. I am not opposed to atower going up in the right location. There are other options to explore before puttinga tower up. Put fibre in to our homes. To our homes. Enable Cronulla exchange forNBN. Free up the data bandwidth on 3G/4G to the appropriate service.

I'm in the RFS and rely on my mobile phone to receive communications from our FireControl and Officers and it can easily be missed.

depends where.

Although my reception is adequate at home and generally around Bundeena, thereare dead spots around the vicinity of the Oval and too many residents have poorreception.

A tower is needed but must be placed responsibly. This is a village within a NationalPark - tower location must take the environment into account.

If a tower could provide better reception especially within the park.

I have always supported a mobile tower for these localities. There are those who careless about human beings and their welfare and more about their narrow-mindedagendas who lack foresight of any kind.

Running a business with very poor mobile reception, is incredibly frustrating.

This is a must for our future generations to maintain connections that are equitable.

I would want to know more about where it would go and also the health andenvironment effects.

There is no service on the Bundeena Road after Maianbar Drive there is small spotsalong Sir Bertram Stevens Drive where a service can be had. This is not good enoughfor this area.

Would like some info on pros and cons, proximity to houses and visual impact.

Should improve the services for some areas in the national park.

I want the better service and accept that we need a tower

I think a tower could be added to something that is already a high structure, whichwould keep the cost down. It is so necessary. Businesses are wasting time and losingcustomers due to the poor reception here.

Long overdue.

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There are many reasons for a mobile tower somewhere in either town, high spots inBundeena are the logical answers. These can be unsightly but no more so than thepole mounted transformers that are everywhere. There is a pole outside my ownproperty that would be suitable. I have studied the scientific evidence forelectromagnetic radiation from towers and find none of the negative publicityconvincing.

The old council sewer dump? Area would be a good place away from all theresidential area.

Our reception is so poor (have to stand in northern corner of the house to getreception).

Tower is most desperately needed for personal and emergency reasons.

sick of losing internet connections.

but use places like the water tower and away from people.

Technology is now available for smaller compact transmitters to be located in streets,which I understand is also a much cheaper option for installation and will providebetter coverage in many more areas, than a tower could provide.

Absolutely.

The sooner the better.

The tower is fine as long as placed away from residential property.

We are in the modern age and there is plenty of spaces within Bundeena for this sortof tower that does not interfere with the natural beauty of the surrounding park. Wehave electrical and telegraph lines all across the streets - OF COURSE WE WANT AMOBILE TOWER.

Bring it on.

All depends where it is.

Depends on the location of the tower - if we are looking at infrastructure prioritywould prefer NBN as number 1 (both would be good but unlikely outcome). If we takethe tower option we will be stuck with mobile data speeds using 3G & 4G which isslower than what we have now and it will delay the NBN. While residents view thetower for mobile phone voice and text services etc. (which would be great) Telstraviews it as a cheap band-aid fix for the internet issues. Every technician has said thisand I've been through a few :)

Likely location would be Bundeena, which would not assist us in Maianbar due to lineof sight concerns.

The look of a tower is a real concern, but has to be balanced with other needs. Giventhe number of car accidents in the RNP, better coverage through there is also aconsideration.

Mobile phone towers are located in the highest vantage points, often aroundreservoirs eg. Bankstown, Engadine, Helensburgh. The village of Helensburgh issimilar to Bundeena/Maianbar. The phone towers should be next to the Maianbarreservoir. This high vantage point would assist users also in Royal National Park.

interferes with business.

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if placed thoughtfully and not to the detriment of individuals/environment.

depending on where it is built.

I think one built near water tower between Bundeena and Maianbar would help.

so stupid to have no service thru the park if you need help.

our support depends on adequate community consultation/input regarding siting andthe cost/benefit to local residents.

prefer spring valley/gully for location.

visitors often have trouble with reception here.

apart from day to day communications I this this is a safety issue for people using theRNP and residents.

the area has been neglected too long.

at the bare minimum NBN needs to be number 1 priority for Bundeena and Maianbar.

needs to be unobtrusive and in keeping with the RNP. So yes but no if is spoils theoutlook.

as long as it's not amongst houses or close to centre of town.

only is positioned away from houses.

mobile towers are urgently needed to improve coverage in Bundeena Maianbar andthe RNP.

it would be nice to have reception during the drive through the RNP.

but what about dropouts in areas through RNP that really does need improvement it'sonly 25km from the city in a direct line!

about time isn't it? We pay same rates but get crap reception.

only if it provided better reliable mobile phone and internet service.

but towers need to be away from houses for health reasons.

needed!

full RNP service would be of benefit

The extension of the lighting poles at the oval. Telstra could install new lighting poleswith better lighting. This has been done at Greenacre.

I have no issue with a tower being erected and have supported this at previouscommunity meetings.

very important to have excellent communications for isolated communities. Criticallocation is not an eye sore. Community consultation is vital.

sure, build it in our backyard for a yearly fee.

use one of the existing structures eg Maianbar water tower.

As long as it was not in a location to effect health of residents.

For emergency situations. This is essential for travellers, walkers, beach goers tohave access to mobiles.

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Should have a tower.

Please - give us a tower!!

Well - as long as it does not endanger health.

provided it is a safe distance from residential areas.

It must be unobtrusive.

No one will like it or want it near them but I think we do need it.

A lot of self employed people live here who depend on internet - faster speeds for thefuture would be essential.

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Questionnaire

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Bundeena/Maianbar Telecommunications SurveyFebruary 2015

If you have access to the internet, please complete this survey online at www.surveymonkey.com/s/BundeenaPhoneSurvey

A. LOCATION

(We need this information to identify problem areas and to ensure that there is only one survey response per household)

1. Which suburb do you live in?

Bundeena

Maianbar

2. What is your street name?

3. What is your street number?

B. LANDLINE TELEPHONE

4. Do you have a landline telephone service at home?

Yes

No (please go to Question 10)

5. Who is your telephone service provider?

Telstra

Optus

Vodaphone

Other

6. How long have you been with this provider?

Less than 12 months

More than 12 months

7. In the past 12 months:

a. How many times have you experienced interruptions to your landline telephone service?b. What is your best estimate of the total number of days you have been without a working landline telephone service?

8. In general, how satisfied are you with your landline telephone service?

Very satisfied SatisfiedNo feelingeither way Dissatisfied

Verydissatisfied

a. Reliability b. Call sound quality

9. Please add any comments you would like to make in relation to your telephone service:

C. INTERNET

10. Do you have internet access at home?

Yes

No (please go to Question 17)

11. Who is your internet service provider?

Telstra

Optus

Vodaphone

AAPT

iiNet

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iPrimus

TPG

Other

12. How long have you been with this provider?

Less than 12 months

More than 12 months

13. How fast is your internet connection (measured in Mbps)?

If you're not sure, you can check your internet speed at www.zdnet.com/broadband-speedtest

14. In the past 12 months:c. How many times have you contacted your internet service provider regarding interruptions to your internet service?d. What is your best estimate of the total number of days you have been without access to the internet at home?

15. In general, how satisfied are you with your internet service in terms of:

Very satisfied SatisfiedNo feelingeither way Dissatisfied

Verydissatisfied

a. Speed b. Reliability

16. Please add any comments you would like to make in relation to your internet service:

D. MOBILE PHONE

17. Do you have a mobile phone?

Yes

No (please go to Question 22)

18. Who is your mobile phone service provider?

Telstra

Optus

Vodaphone

Virgin

Other

19. How would you rate the performance of your mobile phone when used at home?Excellent Good Adequate Poor Very poor

a. Reception b. Call sound quality c. Data transfer speeds for apps and internet

20. Please add any comments you would like to make in relation to your mobile phone service:

21. Would you support the building of a mobile tower in Bundeena or Maianbar?

Yes

No

Comment:

E. RELIANCE ON SERVICES

22. Please indicate which telecommunications services members of your household rely on for:

Landline Phone Internet Mobile Phonea. Running your own business

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b. Working from home for an employer c. Study d. Medical alert systems e. Other