Telstra says last night’s fire at the mobile site in Mullumbimby appears to have been deliberately lit. There is currently no mobile coverage into Greater Mullumbimby.
Telstra Regional General Manager Mike Marom that is was terrible. ‘At a time like this, when communications are so crucial to flood recovery, to have our mobile site damaged and critical telecommunications taken out is reprehensible.
‘What is already a difficult time for Mullumbimby has been made that much harder by what we suspect is an unnecessary, dangerous and selfish act of vandalism.
Crews on site today
Mr Marom said Telstra was working closely with NSW Police on their investigation. ‘We have crews on site this morning to assess the damage and work out how we can bring connectivity back to Mullumbimby as quickly as possible. It could take several days to bring mobile connectivity – in some form – back to the town.
‘We’re working on bringing a temporary mobile service in to Mullumbimby but, with a number of our temporary mobile services already deployed elsewhere across the NSW and Queensland flood zones, we’re having to balance the need for mobile connectivity in a number of places at the same time.’
Mr Maron said Telstra has always been transparent about the need to not only bring services back online in the immediate aftermath of the floods but also the overwhelming need to upgrade services in Mullumbimby, and the recently completed 4G and 5G upgrade works meant the site was operating better than it ever had before.
‘We’ve also been supporting communities at recovery centres with mobile connectivity and hot spots so people can stay in touch with family and friends and services like government agencies.’
For four decades The Echo has printed the stories some people loved, some people hated, and some pretended not to read. If you want us to keep telling the truth, the real truth, not the sugar-coated version. We’ll need your support to keep the presses rolling. 
