TRAVELLERS throughout Australia these days rely on having efficient mobile telephone services to provide them with a means of contact should an emergency situation arise, particularly in more remote locations.
But between Berrigan and Corowa, less than an hour away from Albury-Wodonga, a 50-kilometre mobile coverage black spot means motorists are without that lifeline in times of strife.
Equally important is the fact local farmers cannot rely on the mobile service to deliver that vital text message when they are marketing their produce while out in the paddock.
Savernake resident Ann Sloane gives the example of one woman, involved in a car accident on the Riverina Highway, who may have had a longer wait for an ambulance had her rescuer’s call for help not been made and heard on a two-way radio.
Mrs Sloane says it is unacceptable that today’s mobile technology is out of reach in this black spot.
A meeting last week reinforced calls for a phone tower to cover the black spot and landholders have even made offers of land.
Surely governments and Telstra can heed the calls by residents and fast-track the tower to complete the coverage.
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