Telstra has apologised for a two and a half day-outage on the Princes Highway, in the Heywood area, which played havoc with eftpos and 3G and 4G coverage.
Telstra's Victorian regional general manager Steve Tinker said there was a 'transmission issue' at the Narrawong site, on Mount Clay, on Monday afternoon
That saw 'an unplanned reduction', or loss, of 3G and 4G services in the surrounding area.
"Telstra technicians restored 4G coverage just after midnight on Thursday and 3G coverage 3G coverage at 11.45am," he said.
"We will continue to monitor the site over the coming days to make sure it continues to operate effectively and we apologise to any impacted customers during this time."
The matter was raised by local livestock producer, Georgina Gubbins, on social media.
She said when she filled up with fuel at Heywood on Tuesday, it took five minutes to complete each transaction, due to problems with eftpos.
"When it walked in the poor lady, behind the counter, was very frazzled and she said they were having trouble with their eftpos," Ms Gubbins said.
"Every transaction would have taken about five minutes."
She said between Hamilton and Heywood the mobile phone reception was 'appalling'.
The text message system was also down.
"It's getting worse, they are doing upgrades all the time, but it is getting worse."
Ms Gubbins said it was frustrating, as poor communications was a brake on development.
"At Maneroo, ten years ago, we had perfect mobile phone coverage, now it is very intermittent - I don't know what is happening."
She said telecommunications bureaucrats constantly claimed there were areas of full coverage, 'but that's not reflective of the real world.
"You get 10 minutes of any town and the coverage drops out."
Mr Tinker said as a general rule there was good Telstra 3G and 4G coverage in the southwest area, with 5G coverage also nearby in Hamilton, Warrnambool and Portland.
"There may also be some coverage from other carriers," Mr Tinker said.
"However, mobile coverage and blackspots can be impacted by a variety of factors.
"These include the type of device being used, the distance from a tower, terrain (hills and valleys), tall trees or built infrastructure. In some cases blackspot locations can be reduced by customers using an external aerial or a phone booster to improve coverage."
Andrew Miller
I'm a general reporter with Stock & Land, with a special interest in irrigation issues. I completed my cadetship, with the Age, in 1980. Over my career, I've worked for ABC radio news (Mt Isa, Qld) and at provincial and suburban newspapers.
I'm a general reporter with Stock & Land, with a special interest in irrigation issues. I completed my cadetship, with the Age, in 1980. Over my career, I've worked for ABC radio news (Mt Isa, Qld) and at provincial and suburban newspapers.
