LAKE Cathie will soon be connected to the rest of the world.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
The small seaside community has been lobbying for better mobile phone coverage for some time.
Optus has come to the party and a phone and wireless tower has been approved.
Work will start on the tower in April with completion expected by the end of June.
Jack Jones from the Lake Cathie Progress Association said it had taken a long time but hopefully it will be worth the wait.
“It’s fantastic news for us,” he said.
“We have been in the dark ages without service for so long and finally we are getting somewhere.”
The new tower will be located at the southern side of the Woolworths complex.
“From the talks I had with Optus a lot of the time was taken to find a suitable spot for the tower,” he said.
While Mr Jones is happy at the news other Camden Haven residents are having problems with the telco.
Vivian Hayward, who lives in plain view of the existing Optus tower at Jolly Nose, said she has had trouble getting service for months.
Mrs Hayward has been left so frustrated she created a Facebook page – (Optus Fix Jolly Nose Tower), urging the telecommunications provider to fix the problem.
“We’ve had little or no service for months,” she said.
An Optus spokesman said there are three towers in the vicinity and they have identified a problem with the one located in Laurieton.
He said when one in the area develops a problem the others in the area, including the one located at Jolly Nose, struggle with the extra load.
“Due to a fault with an Optus mobile tower located in Laurieton, some customers in the nearby area may have experienced intermittent coverage issues,” the spokesman said.
“Our network engineers are en route to the tower to restore affected services as soon as possible.
“We would like to apologise to our customers for any inconvenience caused.”