Council cuts telephone bill

The Fraser Coast Regional Council stands to save about $450,000 over three years by signing a new contract for telecommunications services with Telstra.

“Any savings Council makes in one area means there are more funds for other services and helps us keep rate rises to a minimum,” Cr Zane O’Keefe said.

 “Changing to another supplier would have required Council to replace desk phones and SIM cards in mobile devices, which would have been time consuming and costly.

 “The new contract will bring other benefits such as Telstra boosting the Council’s data allowance for Telstra mobile devices by four times and enables us to access 5G technology which is bring rolled out across the region.

 “The access to mobile technology will free staff to spend more time in the field as they can access files and information from most locations and do not need to head back to the office.

 “Investigations staff will also able to report back with information and talk with other staff directly from jobs sites which improves our reaction times and boosts productivity.”

 Telecommunications systems currently cost Council about $140,000 a month which covers fixed data lines (40%); mobile phones, tracking and mobile data (40%) and fixed voice systems (20%).