Marble Bar turns on to Telstra's Next G™ network

The community of Marble Bar has lobbied hard for mobile coverage over the years, and now thanks to Telstra's Next G™ network they get the double whammy of mobile coverage and broadband access.

To mark the occasion Telstra Country Wide (TCW) Area General Manager, Colin Miles, yesterday made the town's first video call in a sweltering 40 degree to Australia's coldest region in the NSW Alps, where TCW's Amber Mitchell took the call at Perisher in almost freezing conditions.

Colin was able to demonstrate the Next G™ network's capabilities to community members and local school children as they watched TCW staff on the other side of the continent having a snowball fight.

“The high technology that is now in this remote town brings it firmly in line with modern technology. To enable this to happen, Telstra had to extend its existing network with an additional 90 kilometres of optic fibre.

“Now the community can be more readily accessible and experience fast broadband internet as a way of communication. It was a joy to see the children’s stunned faces when they saw snow for the first time on the video call,” Colin said.

Marble Bar was tagged as Australia’s hottest town when for 161 consecutive days to 20 April 1924 the temperature in the town never dropped below 100°F (37.8°C) - a fact which is still recorded by the Guinness Book of Records.