By Cameron Weston
LIMITED broadband Internet access in parts of Hobsons Bay is causing some local businesses to move to other parts of the Western suburbs to get connected.
Broadband Internet offers high speed connections that makes sending large files quick and easy, an attractive proposition for businesses dealing with interstate or international clients.
Noel Sutherland from Ezy Computers in Laverton has been campaigning for improved broadband access in Hobsons Bay, after hearing complaints from several businesses.
“I’m not going to say Hobsons Bay is worse that anywhere else but there are certain areas here that are a real problem.
“It’s like Telstra is saying ‘there is not enough money here so were are just not going to worry about it’.”
But Telstra spokesman Patrick O’Beirne said there was “well over 90 oer cent coverage” in Hobsons Bay, a figure in line with state and national coverage.
Mr O’Beirne said, “there are a couple of pockets” where coverage was not available, areas that might coincide with business or industry hubs.
“The majority of the area is covered but there might be isolated areas where there is not.”
Mr O’Beirne said that if people were more than four kilometres from a telephone exchange or ‘node’, it might be impossible to get a high-speed connection.
He said that people in this situation could connect to wireless or satellite based broadband, a more expensive option.
“The facts are, if people want broadband in Australia, they can get it,” he said.
Mr Sutherland said he approached Hobsons Bay City Council about the issue, but was referred to the member for Gellibrand Nicola Roxon, who has since begun lobbying for improved broadband access in the area.
“There are businesses in the area who are losing money because they can’t get access to high speed Internet,” Mr Sutherland said.
“They’re trying to communicate with the world and they can’t do it.”
Fran Skurka from Distinctive Signs said the company moved from Triholme Ave in Laverton to Werribee because a high-speed connection was vital to their business.
“It was one of the major factors in us deciding to move.
“We couldn’t get broadband at all there and honestly, it was so essential to our business that it was a consideration with us packing up and leaving the area.”
Ms Roxon said that because the electorate, which encompasses Hobsons Bay, had traditionally “been an area of slow take up for new communication technologies”, it might appear “less profitable for companies to roll out services” such as broadband Internet.
“Telstra is still a majority owned public company so the public in our part of Melbourne deserve attention too,” she said.
Mr O’Beirne said Telstra used a “demand register” to ascertain if more coverage was needed in certain areas.
“If enough people register their interest, we move to deliver broadband from that exchange because we know there will be enough demand to deliver supply. But in Hobsons Bay, the area seems well covered.”
