YUENDUMU homes are without a television signal – and have been for months and years – because the Federal Government made no repair and maintenance plan to accompany the digital switchover, locals say.

Residents of remote communities have needed a satellite dish and set-top box – the Viewer Access Satellite Television system – to pick up free to air channels since the analog signal was switched off in 2013.

But these components are more complex to fix or replace than the antennas of the analog era.

Locals have told the NT News about 60 per cent of homes in Yuendumu and about 30 per cent in nearby Yuelamu are without a signal because of broken dishes or set-top boxes...

Read more: http://www.ntnews.com.au/news/northern-territory/fair-go-campaign-residents-in-remote-community-without-television-signal-for-months/news-story/ad7a39d58dabe4f2f6b4ec017725475b(link is external)
Image: Zach Hope

IRCA calls on the Federal and State/Territory governments to jointly fund a regionally coordinated maintenance program for VAST direct-to-home satellite TV equipment in remote Indigenous communities.  Some communities have up to 50% failure rate of VAST equipment in Indigenous households, with most households unable to afford the cost of contractor fees and travel from regional centres to undertake repairs.  

Without a coordinated maintenance program for each remote region, this failure rate will continue to rise, leading to the majority of remote Indigenous people being without TV services.  This is a serious equity issue for people living in remote Australia where local analog TV transmission capability was removed at the end of 2013.  While VAST equipment was installed under the Satellite Subsidy Scheme, the ongoing maintenance became the responsibly of the ‘householder', with no plan outlined for remote Indigenous communities or new housing. 

IRCA also urges a funded program to train local community technicians to provide first-in maintenance and diagnosis of issues for DTH equipment.