Residents and visitors were unable to call emergency services for help during recent phone outages in parts of Cape York. Photo: Supplied.
Remote Cape York communities have been left in the lurch due to widespread phone service outages, with some unable to call for help in emergencies.
Telstra has blamed a bushfire and rats for outages over the past two weekends, while the Federal Triple Zero Custodian has been informed.
The first outage left residents unable to phone triple zero from the afternoon of 8 August to the evening of 9 August. Telstra apologised for the cut which impacted Mapoon, Aurukun, Napranum and Weipa and said a bushfire damaged infrastructure.
The second outage affected Mission River, Mapoon, Manum and Rocky Point from about 6 am to 9 pm on Sunday (16 August).
Mapoon Aboriginal Shire Council advised on social media: “Triple zero is currently unavailable due to the phone outage, so please check on your loved ones and friends today.”
Telstra – which has suggested satellite messaging to residents – pointed the finger at rats for that outage.
“A damaged fibre cable near our Weipa mobile site affected services for some customers yesterday. We suspect the damage was the result of rodents chewing through a number of cables,” a Telstra spokesperson said.
“Our technicians worked quickly to repair the damaged section of cable and restore services yesterday evening (Sunday).
Telstra reckons rats are to blame for the second widespread Cape phone outage in two weeks. Photo: Joshua J Cotten.
“We know this disruption comes shortly after last week’s bushfire-related outage in the region and we thank the community for their patience and understanding.”
Mapoon Council CEO Chad King said outages were “pretty stressful” and “talking to a number of members of the community, they felt unsafe”.
He felt Telstra’s response was “completely out of touch with the realities of remote communications”.
It is not known at this stage whether anybody who required emergency assistance was unable to call for help.
“Because Mapoon had the copper network decommissioned fairly early on in the NBN (National Broadband Network) rollout, community is now reliant on mobiles,” Mr King said.
The CEO said satellite tech was not widely used in his community.
“And that’s probably because a cheap Android phone from the store with some pre-paid credit gives you internet and phone, and it’s just a lot more accessible. So community here is reliant on that (single) phone tower,” Mr King said.
The payphone in Mapoon. Photo: Supplied.
“We discovered during the outage that even the local payphone is actually just a big mobile phone. And so when that tower went down, it had no satellite backup; it’s relying on a link to Weipa and we were cut off.
“We tried to make sure that people were safe. We did the rounds to check in on people, but if there was a tourist at the campsite who got bitten by a snake, or if one of the elders was having a heart attack, or if a kid hurt themselves, there was no way to contact triple zero unless you were lucky enough to have Starlink and a phone that can do Wi-Fi calling.”
Mr King said the council would like the payphone swapped for a satellite-capable model and “some sort of resilience (infrastructure) so we’re not relying on a single fibre optic cable into the rest of the network”.
“Our biggest concern community-wise is Mapoon is relying on that single phone tower for all of our connectivity,” he said.
The Federal Government manages telecommunications nationally.
Leichhardt MP Matt Smith said outages were “a really bad outcome for the people in Cape York” and showed “how cut off our remote communities can be during times of disaster”.
“The reports that people were not able to contact triple zero during this time was particularly concerning and I understand that the Australian Government’s Triple Zero Custodian has been made aware of this outage,” he said after the first service cut.
Leichhardt MP Matt Smith says the Federal Triple Zero Custodian has been made aware of the outage. Photo: Supplied.
“This is why I am such a big advocate for the Telecommunications Legislation Amendment (Universal Outdoor Mobile Obligation) Bill 2025. Where we live should not dictate our ability to have reliable telecommunications.
“Once legislated and rolled out, if you can see the sky you will have reception right across the Cape. This will improve education, business health and safety outcomes and help make sure situations like this aren’t happening in the future.”
A Department of Infrastructure spokesperson said: “While no infrastructure is completely immune to natural disasters, the Australian Government is determined to do what it can do to boost the resilience of our telecommunications networks including by investing in new and upgraded infrastructure through programs such as the Mobile Network Hardening Program, the Regional Connectivity Program and the Mobile Black Spot Program.”
“Funding for these programs has helped deliver projects that increase battery back-up, deploy portable and permanent generators, and harden infrastructure to provide communities with access to mobile telecommunications for longer periods during and when recovering from emergencies and natural disasters,” they said.
Work to improve connectivity across the Cape includes new base stations, generators, free community wi-fi through Sky Muster Plus and The First Nations Community Wi-Fi program, which is due to provide free Starlink Wi-Fi to Mapoon, Napranum and Lockhart River by 30 June next year.
