Residents of a small farming town in Western Australia's Midwest say they are prepared to take legal action against Telstra after two months of recurring phone and internet outages.
Telstra said it had fixed the issues, but more than 200 residents in Morawa, 350 kilometres north of Perth, have signed a petition to sue the company for not providing more reliable coverage and connection to the farming town.
The petition was organised by air-conditioning business owner Stuart Hion, who has sought legal advice about launching a class action.
Mr Hion said the details of the potential lawsuit had not been worked out but it could involve claiming damages lost by local businesses.
He said his business lost up to $26,000 in potential income over the past two months because he could not communicate with clients during service outages.
"I gave them the quote and they could not get back to me," he said.
"I couldn't get through to them."
"You've got to be able to communicate with people."
Stuart Hion says about 300 people have signed his petition to pursue a class action against Telstra. (ABC Midwest & Wheatbelt: Brianna Melville)
He was also concerned about the town's vulnerable elderly population.
"A lot of them aren't that well," he said.
"They've got to have mobile service to ring the doctor, ring the medical centre, and they can't."
On the advice of his lawyer, Mr Hion started the petition at the town's IGA on Thursday to see whether at least 100 other locals would join a class action against the Telco.
More than 180 people signed it in the first three days.
Mr Hion said that number nearly doubled at the weekend as farmers came into town from harvesting.
No other option
Mr Hion started a petition at the town's IGA. (ABC Midwest & Wheatbelt: Brianna Melville)
IGA manager Tamika Taylor said there was strong community backing for the petition as frustration over internet and phone connection boiled over.
"Customers that use their phone to pay or transfer money, if there's no reception, they can't pay for their shopping," she said.
"They're angry.
"They should be able to use their phone, there should be reception. Why is there no reception?"
She said some of the issues in town began as early as February.
"What is it going to take? For someone to have a serious accident and then die? It needs to be fixed," she said.
Susan Taylor (left) and Tamika Taylor say Morawa has been forgotten by Telstra. (ABC Midwest & Wheatbelt: Brianna Melville)
She said residents did not have the option of using another telecommunications company.
"We don't have any other option," she said.
"We're a small town. We're forgotten."
'Things can go wrong'
In a statement to the ABC, a Telstra spokesperson said the most recent outage in town was caused by a hardware fault which took three attempts to fix before the hardware was replaced.
They said an earlier outage in late October was caused by a complex fault requiring significant repairs that were delayed due to weather conditions restricting access to the site.
"While we do our absolute best to keep the network running as smoothly as possible, unfortunately when working with technology things can go wrong," the spokesperson said.
"Having a second type of connection like NBN, satellite internet or a landline is the best way for customers to make sure they can stay connected even when a mobile outage occurs.
"We always consider compensation on a case-by-case basis, and customers can call us to discuss their individual situation."
A Telstra spokesperson says a hardware fault took three attempts to fix. (ABC Midwest & Wheatbelt: Brianna Melville)
'This is not a rich town'
Morawa resident Susan Taylor said while some people in the town had paid for satellite devices, the cost of that option was a heavy burden.
"This not a rich town," she said.
"People need to be able to afford their communication devices."
Mr Hion said while some services had been restored, it would not stop him and others from pursuing a class action.
"At the moment it's back on, but for how long? That's what every single person you speak to will say," he said.
Shire president Karen Chappel was not available for an interview about the potential class action, but previously told the ABC that she would continue to try to work with Telstra to resolve the situation.