By Oliver Lees
A report detailing community feedback on mobile and broadband services has identified the Macedon Ranges as an area plagued with connectivity issues.
Released by the state government on February 1, the Connecting Victoria Engagement Report drew on more than 11,000 responses from across the state, to gauge the problem areas of Victoria’s network.
A further 110 formal submissions were received as well as 13 roundtable meetings.
In a visualisation of the data within the report, Macedon Ranges council is an outlier for the number of reports of poor mobile and broadband connectivity challenges.
The state government received approximately 300 complaints from the shire in both categories, putting it among the least connected local government areas in the state.
The data revealed that 41 per cent of reported challenges were identified in rural areas, while nine per cent were in regional areas such as the Macedon Ranges.
Anonymous residents that took part in the survey shared their experiences of battling the poor or nonexistent network.
A resident from Riddells Creek stated:
“Working from home is near impossible and kids’ online learning is a nightmare. We have three kids trying to home-school and with the internet that continues to drop out they miss so much information and interaction.
“In terms of recreational streaming, we can’t download pictures on Facebook let alone stream a movie.”
Another respondent in Woodend stated:
“I can’t get mobile reception at my house. The antenna on my roof connecting to a mobile tower is my only connection with the outside world. I run internet and WiFi from this, including all mobile calls. It’s expensive and when it goes down, I have no communication with the outside world. I am in a high bushfire risk area and find this very scary.”
The report found the shift to remote work and learning as a factor putting specific strain on connectivity infrastructure, while also identifying the need to have robust communications in place for people in disaster or health emergency scenarios.
