Federal Member for Calare Andrew Gee was joined by Oberon councillor Don Capel, Brian Ross and Kevin McGrath to mark the beginning of the tower’s operation.

The tower is for Telstra customers only.

“Mobile phone coverage is vitally important in regional areas and this one is going to make a real difference to the lives of the folks that will use it, including local farmers and their families, road users and business people,” Mr Gee said.

He said the Porters Retreat phone tower is one of 25 new towers being rolled out in the Calare electorate under round one and round two of the Federal Government’s Mobile Black Spot Program.

“The Federal Government has invested $220 million in the program and through co-contributions from carriers and state governments, more than $600 million has been generated to improve mobile coverage across Australia,” he said.

“At the completion of round one and two of the program, new handheld coverage will be available across 86,300 square kilometres of regional Australia.

“It also means new external antenna coverage to over 202,300 square kilometres and coverage to over 7600 kilometres of major transport routes.”