One of the key issues for Tararua, the lack of cellphone coverage, will be an election hot topic for voters here, Wairarapa MP Alastair Scott concedes.
"There will be an announcement in July on rural broadband and cell towers, with people already tendering to supply those towers," he told the Dannevirke News.
"More towers are needed on the hills to the east of the Tararua district and people have to be connected to the rest of the world."
The Government has allocated an additional $100 million for phase two of the Rural Broadband Initiative, to extend improved broadband into more rural and remote areas, with $50m allocated to fix mobile coverage black spots along main highways and at major tourist sites through the Mobile Black Spot Fund (MBSF).
Dannevirke's connectivity group has been working on plans for cell towers on Oporae Range and at Te Uri, while the Kumeroa Telecommunications Solutions Working Group has said its community has made it clear the current levels of service are unacceptable.