IF you spot the three-metre-tall rocket on the corner of Peel and White streets, it’s not a modern art installation, but it will give you better mobile phone reception.
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The two rockets – the other located on Ringers Road, near the TRECC – will boost mobile internet service for Telstra customers up to 400 metres away.
Telstra area manager Mike Maron said the rockets or “4G booster cells” allowed the telco to increase the amount of traffic it could accommodate on its local 4G network.
“With anticipated numbers of around 50,000 visitors to the area, we want to make sure our network is bulletproof,” he said.
“We always want to keep ahead of the curve as far as usage is concerned – data streaming is increasing 50 per cent year on year.”
Mr Marom said the rockets would be complimented by a new and improved Telstra tower in South Tamworth. The tower replaces the old tower that was located on the former Prime7 site.
“This brings the number of towers in the area up to 10, and it will give much better coverage than the previous tower, particularly in-building coverage,” Mr Marom said.