The telecommunications company’s chief executive officer Allen Lew was in Orange on Wednesday as Optus announced its investment in the region.

Optus says new towers are planned for the Bathurst central business district, the western commercial district and Kelso, as well as along O’Connell Road, to improve mobile phone coverage.

The work will be completed over the next 12 months, and the company is in the process of identifying potential sites that it said “would give the best coverage”.

Optus was unable to provide a breakdown of the $4 million to reflect how much would be spent in the Bathurst area, though a development application is already with Bathurst Regional Council for a $180,000 base station on Stewart Street.

The 30-metre high proposed tower would be built on a large industrial site that is currently home to community organisations.

Speaking in Orange on Wednesday, Mr Lew said Optus wants to add customers in regional Australia.

“The regional areas are ones where we look at growth opportunities for Optus; our market share [there] is lower than some of the capital cities," he said.

"Regional is a big focus starting from this year.

“Regional is a huge opportunity for us. We believe the people in the region want choice and we believe we provide a very viable alternative to the incumbent [Telstra].”

Optus says its $4 million investment will follow a $1.7 million investment it has made over the past 12 months to upgrade 16 mobile sites at locations including Mount Panorama, Mount Canobolas, Blayney, the Orange CBD and Blayney.

The company says this investment has expanded 4G data coverage, increased download speeds and improved mobile voice quality for the Central West.  

In addition to its new Bathurst towers, Optus is planning to build a number of new towers over the next 12 months in Calare, Warrendine and Orange East in Orange and along the Escort Way.

An Optus spokesperson said the new towers will “further improve mobile coverage through the Central West, making it easier for customers to make a call and connect to the internet”.

Next week Optus will activate a new mobile phone tower in Woodward Street in Orange to boost connectivity in the city’s west.