Work will begin this week to install Telstra mounts, antennas and feeders for mobile coverage on an SP AusNet tower on Mount Stanley after negotiations between the two companies and the Victorian Department of Sustainability and Environment were successfully resolved yesterday.

Telstra CountryWide North East general manager Robert Bell said he expected the tower upgrade to be finished by November, ahead of the worst months of the coming bushfire season, leaving the mobile coverage in the area “significantly improved”.

Resident Ed Tyrie was a vocal critic of the lack of coverage, which left the tiny community without any phones for more than 36 hours after Black Saturday.

“The whole community is thrilled,” he said after hearing the news.

“It will give us a lot more security than we’ve had in the past.

“I think the whole community ... has had a major impact in this.”

Fellow lobbyist Stewart Eiseman said the development was “long overdue”.

“It should have happened ages ago,” he said, adding he had first contacted Telstra about the issue before the bushfires of 2003.

“They had plenty of time to get their act together.”

Mr Eiseman said the upgrade was “good news for the whole community”.

“The system’s paid off,” he said.

“The whole community was pushing pretty hard over the years since we started complaining and (the development) is a tribute to the spirit of this little community.

“We’re pleased with the response of Telstra after all this time.”

Indigo Shire Mayor Bernard Gaffney said residents had made their desires clear at a community meeting at Stanley on August 2 and another with Victorian Premier John Brumby on August 6.

“While Indigo Shire council strongly advocated on behalf of the community to relevant ministers and the Premier during his Stanley visit, it was the community’s determination to follow through on the issue ... that has won the day,” he said.