Meander Valley residents have some hope that well known mobile black spots may be erased through an independent audit of mobile coverage conducted by Australia Post.

Blackspots may have no coverage, intermittent or unreliable connections affected at different times, or by weather.

There are well known blackspots across the municipality.

These include slow and unreliable coverage at Westbury, Bracknell and Carrick (except during AgFest!), and the lack of coverage near Ashley Detention Centre at Exton.

Over $750 million was allocated to the Better Connectivity Plan in the 2022 federal budget to address regional connectivity and resilience.

Nearly $400 million is dedicated to improving telecommunications infrastructure to enhance mobile coverage along road and highways so that motorists have emergency access to essential services via internet.

Approximately $30 million has been allocated to on-farm connectivity.

Another $20 million is dedicated to an audit of blackspots through use of mobile signal-tracking devices on Australia Post vehicles that measure signal strength as these vehicles do their normal deliveries around the country.

Mayor Wayne Johnston,  Councillor Stephanie Cameron and General Manager John Jordan recently met Senator Sarah Henderson to discuss mobile and internet coverage and advocate for improvements in local services.