Marble Bar phone service fails

Mobile phone service at Marble Bar has been patchy for some time, and we have received reports that on Tuesday it was not working at all.

East Pilbara Shire President Anthony Middleton said he would be seeking a better solution from Telstra.

“From what I understand, of late it's been a regular occurrence that [service] has been dropping in and out,” he told Ngaarda Radio.

Cr Middleton said locals were concerned the Telstra infrastructure was failing as it “provides a fair range of mobile service for not only truckies, but also some Indigenous communities out that way and obviously the public driving that road between Marble Bar and Port Hedland.”

Telstra’s WA regional manager Boyd Brown said local power outages were affecting two Telstra base stations in the Marble Bar area which Telstra owns.

He said coverage to the area had been impacted since Sunday morning and flooding on Marble Bar Road had prevented access by Telstra technicians.

“Once it is safe to do so, Telstra will seek to restore services as soon as possible,” Mr Brown said.