THE LODDON shire is littered with white spots on Telstra’s 3G and 4G coverage map.
Areas where the No 1 Australia’s telecommunications provider Telstra does not guarantee mobile phone connectivity.
From July, 3G will disappear and leave larger areas disconnected from the network. Areas along the Loddon River from Laanecoorie to Serpentine, around Kooyoora State Park, Kingower cricket ground and Rheola recreation reserve - communities already complaining about poor service - will have new challenges.
And 5G? Unless you’re in a big city, Telstra’s coverage map is totally coloured white.
Wehla farmers Darren and Stacey McCoy have struggled for service and connection with 3G. Telstra has told them they live in a “technical blackspot”.
“We’re sick of being treated like second rate citizens. I thought we lived in a first world country. I bet third world countries get better service than we do,” they said.
Stacey said telecommunication connections were vital in running their business,
“We’re farmers who like many can not rely on our phones to make and stay connected to calls, research the internet, run a business or most importantly call for services when we need to call for help,” Stacey said.
“We’ve been told many times over the years, by Telstra, that we live in a ‘technical blackhole’.
“It’s nice to know that Telstra acknowledge that but doing something about it is something they don’t seem to be interested in doing. “Actually one thing they did do for us was send us a link to a map which shows where they do cover which was nice of them.”
Stacey said lodging complaints about poor service was tedious.
“During my most recent dealings with Telstra, after many days and hours texting the same complaint over and over again, I was transferred to a department that deal with the booster we have installed at our home,” she said. 
“We paid nearly $500 to have it installed around three years ago and it did help us make calls here at our home but it certainly didn’t stretch any further than that. Within the last year or two we’ve noticed it lacking in performance so I began the tedious task of lodging our complaint to Telstra.
“At the end of the day I said ‘So there is absolutely nothing you can do for us’ to which they agreed.
“Of course over the years we’ve also been advised by Telstra to update  our phones, reset them and change providers if we think they can offer us what Telstra can’t.
“They did however compensate us $1000 as they agreed we’re paying for a service we’re not receiving ... mind you the call dropped out as the lady was crediting our account.”
Stacey said local residents wanted services improved. We want to pay for a service that is provided throughout the whole area as we want to know anyone, anywhere can call for help if need be.
“I have witnessed fire trucks on the side of the road, the guys in the front staring down at their phones, obviously trying to get service to find where the fire is while it rages on. God forbid the vehicle move while the passenger gets reliable service to relate directions to the driver.”
Stacey said Telstra should invest in infrastructure and not advertising that she said appeased “shareholders  and city folk by the masses, when they could be updating and increasing services throughout rural areas helping prevent likely crisis situations and possible death”.