Staff reporters
If you’re thinking of opening a business in Byron Bay that depends on a high-speed internet connection, then stand in line because there are no business-grade ADSL2+ ports available.
And businesses who cancel their ADSL port to move to new premises need to be particularly wary, as their cancelled port will be given to any other business that happens to ring up at the right time.
Wireless internet service providers, who don’t depend on Telstra ADSL ports, report a constant level of enquiry. Drew Moorley from internet provider WIRES said, ‘the two most common calls we receive are from Byron businesses who have been told by Telstra that there are no ports available, or that they have been placed on a “pair-gain” line, with decreased capacity’.
Significant investment
But a spokesperson for the telco did tell The Echo that ‘Telstra will be adding additional DSL2+ infrastructure to the [Byron Bay] exchange in the next six months.
‘Telstra has made significant investment in DSL2+ technology in Byron Bay in the past 12 months, with installing additional DSL2+ infrastructure to a streetside cabinet where this was previously not available.
‘Telstra does note that ADSL is a distance-based technology; if a customer lives beyond the reach of this technology we will not be able to provide them with an ADSL service.’
We haven’t been allocated a port in the Industrial estate,still NO internet available at the so called Arts and Industry estate, a place where you pay high rent and outrageous electricity prices and supposibly should be set up to be able to run a business, we had a loss of income and pulled our hair out in sheer frustration as most of our dealings had been online, we were promised a port by several providers which made us make the move as we knew our life depended on it,only to find out after the move that we had been misled, now, whom do we sue for loss of income, increased stress levels, sheer frustration by the feeling of being conned into an expensive place that is virtually useless without internet and what is wrong with this place, I feel like I have been thrown back to the stone ages, not only do we pay very high prices for everything, service is lousy ,we are supposed to be able to compete on a world level in business, this to me is a bad indication of what’s to come for Australian’s on an economic level where we are being passed by by country’s in Asia and even in Africa when it comes to cyber services to the public, welcome to third world conditions in this oh so prosperous part of Australia where time stood still as we were still living in the 60’s.