Eurobodalla council approves two Telstra small cells for Mystery Bay

Eurobodalla Shire Council has voted unanimously to approve development applications for two small cell towers at Mystery Bay, clearing the way for 4G coverage in the NSW coastal hamlet. The council had earlier deferred the applications while councillors asked for more information. The service is funded through the Federal Government's Black Spots Program.

Telstra's Regional General Manager for the ACT and NSW, Chris Taylor, told the council meeting that work on the project began five years ago after the Black Saturday bushfires. Taylor said Telstra had been working since 2021 to find a practical and deliverable fix for "long standing mobile coverage deficiencies in Mystery Bay". In that time, he said, the company looked at a taller macro facility, private land, council land, crown land, co-location opportunities and 13 potential small cell locations.

Taylor argued that a different approach would set the project back. He said restarting investigations for a taller macro facility, or pursuing untested locations, would need a new site acquisition, technical assessment, design and approval process. Taylor said there was "no certainty that another suitable and deliverable site could be secured or approved within the available program and funding timeframes".

Taylor said fewer than 70 homes will receive coverage once the two towers are installed. He said the Commonwealth requirement is coverage to at least 25 dwellings, and that Telstra's modelling indicates new outdoor coverage to approximately 60 dwellings. According to Taylor, the solution will also improve 4G voice and data services, local road coverage and network capacity during peak visitor periods, as well as access to emergency communications including 000.