Telstra’s commitment to upgrade the Ardlethan phone tower has done little to dampen outrage over poor or non-existent reception.

It comes after a fiery town hall meeting between Telstra and irate Ardlethan residents to raise concerns about 11 extended outages in 12 months. 

Telstra held the meeting in response to horror stories from locals, like a who father couldn’t get reception when his son was bitten by a brown snake, a grieving mother forced to borrow an Optus mobile phone to arrange her son’s funeral arrangements and a volunteer firefighter climbing a silo to check his messages. 

Residents are being forced to fend for themselves in the event of emergency, businesses are hamstrung without EFTPOS and farmers risking huge losses without access to volatile grain markets. 

Telstra has committed to upgrading the transmission system responsible for most of the outages by making structural changes to the tower.

In the meantime, the telco will upgrade the battery back-up as a short-term outage solution, which will ensure supply for eight to 12 hours.

NSW Farmers Central West regional services manager Catriona McAuliffe said constant outages undermined attempts to encourage older farmers to keep phones on them in case of emergency. 

“Farmers set up emergency plans in the knowledge they can use their phones, so when the phone tower fails they're left with nothing,” she said.

“A mobile phone isn't a designated emergency device according to the legislation, but obviously it's the only mechanism most farmers have now.”

Ms McAuliffe, who attended the town hall meeting, likened selling grain to stock market trading, where split-second decisions can make or break profitability. 

“You need to be able to confirm sale on the spot and it’s the same buying and selling sheep online,” she said.

Former Riverina MP Kay Hull, who voted against her own government’s privatisation of Telstra in 2005, said the latest outages vindicated her position.

“Governments should be responsible for providing access to good quality education, health, communication and water,” Mrs Hull said.

“I don't want a phone box in every gum tree, but there are ways and means of providing secure access to communications for the regions.

“I made the stand because we were being treated as second class citizens.

“Ardlethan outages are a prime example.”