Life on the land is as tough as it comes.
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Our farming heroes have to endure the relentless wrath of Mother Nature.
But a Yerong Creek farmer has been facing another battle – limited phone coverage.
Graham Mott’s property sits about seven kilometres east of Yerong Creek on the Mangoplah Road and is in a mobile phone blackspot.
Usually, the third generation farmer relies on his landline to keep his business running, but a lightning strike during an electrical storm last Sunday wiped it out.
“There was a flash and a loud crack,” Mr Mott said.
“The phone sizzled and when I went to turn the phone off, it was hot.”
The farmer contacted Telstra the following morning by travelling five kilometres up the road where he could get a mobile phone signal.
“They sent me a blue tick phone, but that has no signal as well,” Mr Mott said.
He said Telstra was sending him a satellite phone in a bid to temporarily fix the problem, but had not arrived as of Friday.
He said he has had a lot of issues over the years with the landline, which he said has been lying on the ground for around five years.
“It was meant to be buried two years ago,” Mr Mott said.
“We’re banging our heads against a brick wall. It’s not good enough to have no mobile service (as well as no landline).”
He said he and his neighbours have experienced calls being sent to the wrong address.
“I rely on a phone for my business. Telstra doesn’t seem to understand,” he said.
Telstra confirmed the fault was reported to it on Monday, February 6, but said it did not have a history of ongoing issues reported to it from Mr Mott’s service.
Telstra southern area manager Chris Taylor said a technician has been booked in to fix Mr Mott’s service on Monday, February 13.
“We want to apologise to the customer for the interruption to his service, Mr Taylor said.
“We have a technician booked to make the necessary repairs this Monday.”
Mt Mott’s troubles come as unreliable phone reception in another rural community, Ardlethan, prompted former Riverina MP Kay Hull to reiterate her position on the privatisation of Telstra in 2005.
