OVER FIFTY locations in the Swan Hill and Balranald local government areas have been identified as mobile phone black spots, according to data supplied by locals.
Under the first rollout of the federal government’s campaign tackling regional blackspots, local towns Chinkapook, Lalbert and Patchewollock have been earmarked to receive new or upgraded mobile base stations.
Chinkapook’s Sharon Barry said prior to an Optus phone tower being built in nearby Chillingollah around five years ago, mobile phones were “basically useless” in Chinky.
“It was always a hassle. If you wanted to text you had to stand in a back of a ute on a hill,” she said.
Ms Barry and most other Chinkapookians are now Optus customers but she welcomed the news of the new tower, which should be delivered by Telstra before 2019.
However, Nowie farmer Ross Watson isn’t holding his breath that the signal from the new Chinkapook tower will provide respite for his internet woes.
For more on this story, pick up a copy of today’s (Friday, January 1) The Guardian…
