Why a hard-working mum is forced to set up a make-shift office on the side of a rural road – as she reveals how her dream of ‘living in paradise’ has turned into a nightmare
- A mother-of-two has resorted to working on the side of the road to get internet
- Shehana Sicinski’s Cedar Creek, Queensland home has no phone reception
- She also said her ADSL internet constantly freezes or drops out
- Locals say they’ve tried to get reliable internet in rural community for years
- They said recent work and study from home rules were ‘frustratingly’ difficult
A mother-of-two who lives in an idyllic rural community is forced to set up her office on the side of the highway because her house has poor internet, despite being just 35km from a state capital.
Shehana Sicinski moved to Cedar Creek, about 40 mins drive from Brisbane, with her family and while she loves the location, the lack of phone service or reliable internet makes working from home impossible.
The career transition coach has resorted to packing a desk and stool into the boot of her car doing work from the side of the highway a five minute drive away where there is phone service.
Cedar Creek resident Shehana Sicinski says she has to set up her office on the side of the highway (pictured) to work from home because her house has such poor internet
‘Honestly, it’s heartbreaking and frustrating. It’s impacting my ability to do my job to the level that I know I’m capable of doing,’ she told A Current Affair.
The spot known by locals as ‘Telephone Hill’ has become popular especially during work-from-home conditions with residents flocking to the spot to make calls or have Zoom meetings.
At home Ms Sicinski says her internet can’t be relied upon for simple tasks with video calls freezing and the connection either maddeningly slow or dropping out completely.
‘It’s unfair, it’s unprofessional,’ she said.
She said by working from her makeshift office she is ‘able to hotspot from my phone and at least have a little bit of a semi-professional looking environment instead of me being in my car’.
She said many residents have even left the area because of the lack of internet despite living in ‘paradise’.
Ms Sicinski moved to her Cedar Creek home (pictured) with her family but said even after two years of trying they are unable to get reliable internet
Neighbours have echoed her plight, with Lisa Barrios saying there should be a permanent shelter built at Telephone Hill for those working in the area.
For two years locals have been trying to get the internet issue fixed but parts of the area is still only serviced on the ground by outdated and slow copper phone lines.
The infrastructure has been sold to NBN Co which has offered fixed wireless or Sky Muster satellite connections, but locals say they have tried this option and it’s been no improvement.
There is also the new Starlink satellite array – launched by Elon Musk’s SpaceX – which provides speeds double that of 4G, but would require rezoning of the area to be eligible.
Paul Donahue, a Cedar Creek local and frustrated I.T. architect, said that after years of attempts a government funded Telstra phone tower could finally be built in the area.
Bureaucratical approval processes and constructing the tower means that won’t be viable for some time, leaving residents who need to work-from-home between a rock and a hard place.
‘We came out here with the promise we would have access to technology and be able to function and run our businesses and work and have our children study, and I want them to fulfil their promise,’ Ms Sicinski said.
Ms Sicinski (pictured) said working from home is extremely difficult because video calls will freeze or drop out and there is no mobile phone reception
A Telstra spokesperson said the company was in the process of resolving the lack of mobile phone reception.
‘Telstra is determined to provide the Cedar Creek community with improved mobile connectivity, and we are working closely with Council and landowners to resolve issues and find a solution.’
And added that some customers in Cedar Creek were designated to receive Sky Muster satellite connection by NBN Co. and thus the faster fibre optic network connections had not been installed.
An NBN Co. spokesperson confirmed some of the houses in the area were already connected to the satellite option.
‘NBN Co’s records indicate that 60 of the 308 private dwellings in the Cedar Creek area are currently connected to the NBN Sky Muster satellite broadband service, and 49 premises in Cedar Creek are connected to the NBN network via Fixed Wireless technology.’
‘We are not aware of any current complaints from our customers in this area.’