Telstra says the upgrades will bring a better 4G and 5G user experience and improve the mobile site’s capacity, meaning faster downloads, smoother streaming and less congestion.
Telstra regional manager for Western Victoria Steve Tinker said the company understood the importance of connectivity in all parts of the country.
“While disruption is required while the upgrade is under way, we’ll only be switching off the site when we need to and will have it back online and working better than ever as quickly as possible,” he said.
From 8am on Monday, November 10 to 5pm on Friday, November 14, there will be no Telstra mobile coverage from the Echuca East site.
On Saturday, November 15, there will be an eight-hour disruption to the Telstra mobile network from 8am.
Minimal disruptions to the network will continue from Sunday, November 16 to Tuesday, November 18 throughout the day as final works occur.
Mobile customers will receive texts advising them of upcoming works.
Landline services, NBN and satellite internet, and non-Telstra mobile customers will not be impacted.
Any calls to 000 from a Telstra mobile when the site is off-air will automatically connect to another mobile network if available for connection to emergency services.
Telstra customers can continue to make calls and send texts during disruption to mobile services by switching on wi-fi calling.
This is a free setting on most popular mobile phones and allows your mobile to make and receive mobile calls while connected to wi-fi.
Business owners are encouraged to talk to their bank about connecting their EFTPOS terminals to their NBN or wi-fi connection to prevent delays in processing transactions.