The mobile phone coverage at a golf club in southern New South Wales is so unreliable, the club has resorted to painting a cross in the car park so guests know where they can make a call.

And it is not just the golf club that has issues — a local councillor said thousands of residents in the town's southern half had almost no mobile coverage.

Corowa Golf Club general manager Kim Gregg said she could understand why patrons got frustrated.

"People are in the clubhouse but have to go outside to make phone calls. It's a bit of a joke," she said.

Councillor Gail Law there were 6,500 people in the town and half the area had no coverage.

"If you go to Albury or Melbourne you can talk to anyone in the world, but we're left in the dark," she said.

"It's just not good enough."

Call for minimum standards for telcos 

RMIT associate professor Mark Gregory, who researches telecommunications, said the lack of coverage in regional areas was an issue that needed to be considered as part of the federal government's $20 million national mobile coverage audit, expected to start this year.

"This is an example of where the telecommunication companies can do more to fill in the gaps in the coverage holes in our regional communities," he said.

Dr Gregory said he wanted to see the government set minimum standards that telecommunication companies must abide by when providing service.

"We have telcos spending a huge amount of money marketing their mobile networks as providing high speeds of internet," he said.

"A minimum standard might mean they have to provide at least 40 per cent of that, but if you look at the telcos' websites their speeds can be as low as zero megabits per second to 100, 200, 300 megabits a second."

An Australian Competition and Consumer Commission spokesperson said in a statement that telecommunication companies were required not to mislead customers about their services.

"Under the Australian consumer law, businesses must not engage in false or misleading conduct in the supply of goods or services, including telecommunications services," the spokesperson said.

"Telecommunication providers are also required to comply with the Telecommunications Consumer Protections Code and other service standards administered by the Australian Communications and Media Authority."

Visitor increase affects coverage, Telstra says

In Corowa, the local Federation Council passed a motion calling on local politicians and telecommunication companies to find a way to increase service in the area.

Cr Law is worried the lack of service could be dangerous.