Vacy resident and president of the Gresford Community Group Graham Murphy said the entire community was cut off from the world for several days each time there was severe weather in the Hunter.

“It happened in the April storms when the lines were out for a couple of days,” Mr Murphy said.

“This time it was out for five days and we were told it had something to do with the phone tower.

“The problem is, it’s not just one person that’s affected every time this happens, it is the whole community.”

Outrage over the phone outages and intermittent service were raised on a social media page and attracted more than 50 complaints from residents.

Telstra customers were cut off from both their mobile and landline services, with some residents told it could be as late as February 14 before anything could be done. 

Mr Murphy worked for an Australian telecommunications company up until the early 1990s and said he understood the importance of customer service in a situation like this.

“We had to have 90 per cent of phones fixed within two working days and we consistently met these figures,” he said.

“The infrastructure has never been able to handle the weather, but over time it has been left.

“They won’t spend money to maintain the infrastructure and the underground cables are just breaking down.

“The NBN [National Broadband Network] is meant to be the saviour, but it’s not going to be.”

According to Telstra, the areas in question experienced heavy rainfall in early January and ongoing rainfall and electrical storms during the month, which led to it being the wettest January in many years.

“While we plan well in advance for ­seasonal weather events to minimise the impacts, heavy rains do affect our network, just as they affect the power and road ­networks,” a Telstra spokesman said. 

“The wet weather and lightning contributed to a small number of power issues during January, which were resolved within one to two days. 

“The most recent outage required a piece of equipment at one of our roadside cabinets to be replaced due to suspected lightning damage. 

“This issue was reported on 25 January and was resolved by the morning of 27 January.  

“Less than 30 customers were impacted by this issue.

“We apologise to our customers for any inconvenience this caused and assure the community we worked as quickly as possible to reconnect them.”

Mr Murphy said the fact that less than 30 customers were affected should not be considered a win for the company.

“It is naive and ignorant to think that,” he said. “This is 30 people with no communications, no access to health services and no ability to contact emergency services.

“It is woeful.”

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East Maitland business owner Cliff Fairlamb has endured four weeks without phone or internet service and there is no end in sight.

Mr Fairlamb runs his denture clinic, Procare Dental, from his home in Perth Street.

After severe storms and flooding on January 5 the business lost its Telstra landline service and all connected services including the internet.

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It has now been four weeks and the business continues to operate without phone or internet service.

“It has really disrupted my business,” Mr Fairlamb said.

“I copped it for the first week, but now it has cost me a few thousand dollars.

“Times a big cost, I have spent hours on the phone to Telstra and I have had to divert the ­business phone to my Optus mobile which is costing me money.

“It is a very big inconvenience and it looks unprofessional.”

The service outage means Mr Fairlamb cannot do his online bookkeeping, customers cannot pay via eftpos and he cannot provide receipts.

The inability to provide valid receipts is the biggest issue, because many customers need documentation to claim back money from Medicare and their health funds.

“I have been ringing them since the first week and they told me it would be fixed on Friday, then it became the next Friday and now it has been a month,” he said.

“I have spoken with the complaints department, but their is no hierarchy to push the ­complaint further up the chain.

“It is unacceptable.”