Frustration is growing in Gilgandra as residents experience a decline in their Telstra service, forcing connection to a crawl. 

When Gilgandra local Geoff Kiehne raised with the community that he was experiencing issues with his Telstra service, he was met with hundreds of comments echoing the same problem. 

“It’s just deteriorated in the last six to eight months, to the point where it’s frustrating,” Mr Kiehne said. 

“It just takes extraordinarily lengthy periods of time to download things, or to generally do anything on your phone apart from making a simple phone call."

According to Telstra, preparation for the 3G shutdown later this year can cause disruption to service. 

“The Gilgandra Shire is planned for tower upgrades throughout the region, in the first half of 2024, of which some work has already started, which may at times require a series of temporary outages or reduction in mobile coverage,” a Telstra Spokesperson said. 

“Where 3G only sites have been upgraded to include 4G we can see an improved customer experience and an increased uptake of 4G technology.”

Telstra will close their 3G network on 30 June this year. 

“The decision to close our 3G Network was made after careful consideration of several factors, including technological advancements and the need to repurpose the 3G spectrum for the expansion of our 5G coverage,” the spokesperson said.  

Mr Kiehne believes where reduced services are, however, the price should reflect that. 

“We’re charged 100 per cent of the costs and charges while they knowingly deliver 50 per cent of the service.”

“Perhaps they should reduce the cost,” he said. 

“I think for any community in this day and age to survive, you have got to have roads, electricity supply, water and waste services, and you’ve got to have communication.”

“Without those, your community dies.”

Work for the tower upgrades have already begun in the Gilgandra Shire.