‘Frustration is huge’: The tiny country town that says it has been forgotten by Telstra

Exclusive: Residents of a country town in NSW who have been fighting Telstra after years of spotty service say last week’s national outage is a headache they face regularly.

Bingara in the state’s New England region has just one phone tower, which the local council said the $55 billion telco giant promised to upgrade last year.

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Telstra is the primary provider for the small population of around 1300 people, but there are persistent reception dropouts.

The mayor said this could soon result in “tragic consequences”.

Sally Robertson moved to Bingara four years earlier and said she is fed up with the town’s unreliable mobile coverage.

She told nine.com.au her partner, who runs a farm and regularly works alone, uses Telstra and is often painfully unreachable.

“The frustration is huge, often you’re stuck because people don’t have landlines any more,” Robertson said.

“Even when there aren’t outages, the service is so patchy and that bad because it can’t obviously accommodate the number of people who occasionally use it.”

Robertson said her greatest fear is her partner getting hurt and not having access to Triple Zero.

Hundreds of Australians were unable to access Triple Zero calls during the national Telstra outage earlier this month.

This is a concern Bingara residents grapple with all too often.

“What happens if he comes off his tractor or rolls the quad bike or something?” Robertson said.

“He’d be completely stuffed.”

Several years earlier, Robertson said her partner’s elderly mother was hospitalised around 100 kilometres away during a previous Telstra outage.

It took hours for him to find out, only after Robertson called around town to ask for help and a Bingara resident who uses Optus drove to his farm.

“It was just unreal,” she added.

Business owner Sharon runs a laundromat in Bingara and relies on Telstra for her internet and phone connectivity.

She said it is often patchy and “really, really slow”.

“We have major issues, more than we should,” sharon told nine.com.au.

“It is very annoying and it affects the whole town.”

The historic town often suffers from network congestion, particularly during busy tourist events like the Bingara Orange Festival.

Robertson said a neighbouring council sometimes brings over a backup mobile satellite into town to ensure there is coverage.

“We can’t actually run the events [without it] because if someone comes off a horse or comes off a bike, we can’t get emergency services out, which is just ridiculous,” she added.

“It is imperative that we have something in place as a backup, if unless they can fix the towers.”

Robertson said the catastrophic Telstra outage, which left many without a mobile signal and shut down Victoria’s entire regional rail network, should be a reminder of what regional Australian communities regularly face.

“If this was happening in the city, you can just imagine. It wouldn’t last a week.”

Gwydir Shire Council said it has been urging Telstra to address “serious concerns” over the region’s lack of reliable mobile service.

Mayor Tiffany Galvin said it is “deeply disappointing” that there is still such unpredictable phone service in her shire.

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“This is not a new issue – I have raised it time and time again, yet little has changed,” she said, adding that poor mobile worsens during community events.

“Each time we raise these concerns, we are told by Telstra that the problem is due to congestion – too many people trying to use the network at once.

“Quite frankly, that explanation is no longer acceptable.

“If this were happening on Pitt Street in Sydney or in the heart of Canberra, I have no doubt swift action would be taken.

“Our communities deserve the same level of service and attention.”

Galvin said Telstra had committed to upgrading the tower in southern Bingara before the end of 2025 but that this promise “has not been met”.

“My greatest concern is the potential for a serious emergency where communication failure could lead to tragic consequences,” she added.

“That risk is simply too great to ignore.”

In a statement to nine.com.au, a spokesperson for Telstra said the network in Bingara is “very busy” and is worsened by spikes in demand like school holiday tourism.

“We continue to investigate new opportunities to further improve services in the area, including plans to upgrade the Bingara site in the next few months,” the spokesperson said.

“Before this upgrade can begin, additional work has been required to support capacity and performance, along with a pole upgrade to meet safety requirements.

“These steps are essential ensure the long-term stability, reliability and effectiveness of the upgrade. 

“We know the community is keen to see the upgrade completed, as it will deliver a significantly improved mobile experience. We thank them for their patience and understanding.”