NEW mobile phone base stations will be built at Limekilns, Yarras, Sunny Corner and Rock Forest with funding from the Australian Government's Mobile Black Spot Program.
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Calare MP Andrew Gee said Lowther and Kanimbla, near Lithgow, would also receive new base stations to improve regional mobile phone coverage.
"The Limekilns area has been plagued by recent problems with the exchange. This led to a number of landline service outages over summer which has been very frustrating for local residents," Mr Gee said.
"They have been very keen to get better mobile coverage because their landlines have been so unreliable."
In addition to the base stations, Mr Gee also announced five new small cell sites to be established at Wattle Flat, Sofala, Mullamuddy, Killongbutta (Freemantle) and Birriwa exchanges.
"The residents of Wattle Flat and Sofala will also be very happy today given that those areas will receive better mobile reception through a small cell service through Telstra," he said.
"The residents in these areas have also been pushing for better coverage for the last few years and so this latest funding will be very welcome news to them.
"If we want our country communities to continue to grow and prosper we need to get them connected and give them the best possible communications we can. It's so crucial for education, health, business and tourism, and in this day and age you simply can't do without decent mobile coverage."
Round 4 of the Mobile Black Spot Program was worth $25 million nationally with Calare picking up just over $5 million of the funding.
"We've managed to tick off 11 sites in the electorate and having done that we can now start work on the others that need fixing," Mr Gee concluded.