Calare runners should 'state their position' on mobile coverage, former candidate Aaron Pearson says

In spite of December's polling outcome, poor mobile and internet coverage remains a list-topping target of Mr Pearson's, which he hopes the upcoming Calare successor will '"fight tooth and nail for" following the federal election on May 21.

"Great progress has been made with the federal government's funding commitment to [introducing] more mobile towers in the recent budget," Mr Pearson said.

"But I think its important that all candidates running for the seat of Calare should state their position on the issue of sufficient mobile coverage in small rural and regional areas."

Reaching out about the issue to each runner via social media, Mr Pearson says, thus far, he's received "positive, supportive and optimistic" responses from three of the current six political figures battling for the Calare seat.

After leading the petition against the closure of Molong's Commonwealth Bank branch, Mr Pearson says he also receives ongoing calls for help with issues from local residents - with the most recent where varying coverage bounces between a "sometimes fine" status, or "struggling to get one bar [of reception]."

"I've gotten messages and emails from people saying this is a major issue, even for emergency services - their communications are all done via Wi-Fi now ... and they can't connect to base without proper internet service," Mr Pearson said.

"Everything's practically online these days and it's important - the internet and phones were once a luxury, but now they're a necessity and we need the service to use them. It's very disheartening."

Mr Pearson also initiated a survey in March of this year, for those living in towns across East Cabonne - which includes villages such as Mullion Creek, Kangaroobie, Clergate and Clifton Grove to name a few - where he received some 99 responses from participants.

The majority of surveys reporting extremely poor mobile coverage in all of the eastern areas.

In contact with Telstra's regional general manager for the ACT and Southern NSW, Mr Pearson forwarded the petition's outcome to its GM Chris Taylor, where a recent proposal submitted to the federal government's 'Regional Connectivity Program' was confirmed via email on March 29.

It outlines the request for participation in round two of the government-funded project in order to improve 4G mobile coverage in the Central West - where claims that the Mullion Creek area, and to the north along Burrendong Way towards Kerr's Creek, was specifically noted in the submission.

"It needs the political support and at the end of the day the ball is in the court of the department of communications, so whoever is going to represent us - we need to know that they're going to give us a solid commitment," Mr Pearson said.

"I think that this needs to be an election issue because people in these areas, they don't take their votes lightly and they pretty much feel disconnected from the world - if they can't make a phone call, can't send an email - so we need these people to declare their hand to say whether they'll fight tooth and nail for us on the floor and in the houses of parliament to connect Cabonne to the world."

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