MICK Ward stood beside the flooding Calder Highway on Christmas Day hoping for mobile service but knowing his chances were not that good.
The mid-way point between Inglewood and Wedderburn was again in a swathe along the highway disconnected from telecommunications as waters rose after the 175mm-plus drenching.
“We’re between two towers they say and this happens all the time,” Mick said. 
“It’s discrimination against people living in the rural areas. Better phone reception? Bring it on.”
Service along the highway connecting the state’s north and south went down for more than five hours for some telecommunications providers during the December 25 deluge.
There are similar experiences for communities around the Loddon Valley Highway between Bendigo and Kerang and the Pyramid Hill-Bendigo Road. Loddon Shire’s Terrick Ward councillor Dan Straub said: “I can be driving from Pyramid Hill to Myers Flat and have no coverage at all. The network seems to be searching for 5G and it’s just not available in our area.”
Cr Straub said coverage was at best marginal in areas around the East Loddon P12 College and Calivil. “And Serpentine has had significant problems since 2022. Many times in a storm the power supply is knocked out, the battery back-up is exhausted. 
“And if the roads are blocked, telecommunications providers can’t get a back-up generator to a tower in time,” he said.
“The network - phone and internet - becomes completely unusable.”
Cr Straub said it was time to take rural communities off the telecommunications backburner.
“Regardless of unforeseen weather, we have very poor connectivity that is inhibiting residents and the day-to-day running of businesses,” he said.
“And when the Government is pushing people to use the VicTraffic and VicEmergency sites for information on disasters and emergencies, that’s of no use when people can’t even get a connection. 
“Fill the gaps ... we’re only 40 minutes from Bendigo.”
Cr Straub said the risk to safety was high in storms and flood across his council ward.
“In some towns, service is okay but the moment you go hardly any distance out and there are problems with service for mobiles,” he said