The village said it had endured six to nine months of phone outages, where landlines, internet and mobile phone services have been affected, prompting the community to hold a public meeting next week.

They say they are sick and tired of the problem which is affecting businesses in the village and some residents fear lives could be put at risk in the event of an emergency where vital services can’t be contacted. 

Local resident Geraldine McKay is frustrated by the ongoing problem and said there were ramifications to personal lives and businesses.  

“There is stress and drama to us all. It’s like you are living on the edge.

“We all have things we have to do like banking, email and sending documents,” she said. 

She added there had been three outages in the past two months alone, including last week where services were out for three days, and for an entire week in December.

A major concern is the exchange being down during power blackouts.

In an emergency, there are fears things could take a turn for the worse. 

“What if the Mullaley Fire Brigade can’t be contacted and they can’t contact members to fight a fire? The fire brigade was called out to two vehicle accidents on Tambar Springs Road last month. What happens if there is no phone?” she said.

“What happens if we’ve got the Mullaley Gymkhana and someone needs an ambulance and we’ve got no mobile phones and landlines like what happened last week?

“There is an Optus tower not far away and some families are having to have one member of the family  have an Optus phone which is an unnecessary expense.”

Businesses in the village say they are also being affected. 

One operator said he couldn’t process payments of accounts that were paid following last Thursday’s outage.

“We get a brown-out and we lose landlines and Telstra mobile,” he said.

“It happens fairly often.”

David Isbestor from DMI Engineering said he got fed up with the service in the village some time ago and switched to Optus which has a nearby tower for his mobile. His workshop and office phones, however is still through Telstra and he has to have diversions put in place to his mobile during the outages so he’s not losing business. 

He can’t receive faxes and using the mobile adds even more expenses. 

“It’s very annoying.” Mr Isbestor said. 

Next Wednesday night, Mullaley will rally at a public meeting at the local hall at 7pm. 

Minister for Communications Mitch Fifield, local state and federal MPs Kevin Anderson, Barnaby Joyce and Mark Coulton, Senator John Williams, Gunnedah Shire Council and Telstra have all been invited to attend. 

Ms McKay, who said she was in a lightning and storm-prone area, said some of the resolutions allegedly proposed by the telco have been unacceptable, including claims she was told to establish a special antennae at a cost of $2000 to heighten coverage.  

Adding to the frustration is the fact the  exchange is right in the centre of the village.

A Telstra spokesperson said:  “All of our back-up power systems contain high-powered batteries, however, there have been a few occasions when our batteries at the site have depleted either before power was restored to the town, or before we could get a generator to the exchange. We apologise to the community for any inconvenience caused.”