Residents need to dial up the pressure so the federal government’s plan to tackle the disgraceful problem of mobile phone blackspots in rural Australia will see major changes and improvement in the Orana region.
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The budget provided $100 million to improve mobile coverage across the nation.
This week the Parliamentary Secretary for Communications, Paul Fletcher, visited the Parkes electorate with the MP, Mark Coulton, for a first-hand look at the problem.
Last year Canberra asked for submissions on the issue.
Mr Coulton and Regional Development Australia (RDA) Orana ran campaigns to get residents to respond and ensure the region gets its fair share of funding.
Mr Coulton said last year half his electorate area of 257,000 square-kilometres had no coverage and pointed to black spot and communications problems during the massive Coonabarabran fires in January 2013.
Mr Fletcher visited Coonabarabran and Goolma.
He said government had received extensive feedback from this region on mobile coverage issues.
The government expects to start “competitive selection” of locations after July.
Winning locations will be named in the first half of 2015 and the first base stations are expected to roll out from July 2015.
The government is accepting submissions until the end of June.
Let Canberra know your problems and needs.
Demand a fair share of the funds and a decent mobile service.
This is a call communities cannot afford to miss.