WHILE recent visits by political figures to remote parts of Queensland have shone a light on diabolically inadequate internet and mobile phone capacity there, many small western towns that would normally expect a reasonable service are also finding their internet is grinding to a halt.
Social media posts are full of complaints from people in places such as Hughenden, Blackall and Thargomindah, who once had reasonable speeds but now experience as much difficulty loading pages or connecting to services online as their out-of-town cousins.
Repercussions are being felt by businesses, local government and community services, as well as by private users.
Some of the slowdown is put down to an influx of visitors snapping up available bandwidth in peak tourism months, or children spending more time on the internet during school holidays, but it is happening consistently enough for the Member for Maranoa Bruce Scott to acknowledge the frustration in his electorate.
He said the core of the problem lay in the commercial interaction between Telstra and NBN Co.
"NBN Co has the responsibility to roll out the national network but until they say what they are doing, Telstra is reluctant to spend money if they're right behind them.
"I've got the pressure on NBN Co to spell out their plans for my electorate, and I'll also be pressuring Telstra to roll out wireless or fibre to the node in the western areas where we have backhaul.
"Most residents in these towns don't live more than a mile from the centre of town."
Mr Scott said he knew NBN plans in the region were imminent, hopefully well before Christmas.
"They are already rolling out to some high population areas to get revenue."
At the end of October, NBN Co announced network design and rollout plans for three areas in Queensland described as regional - in the Somerset, Moreton Bay and Gladstone regional council areas.
NBN Co spokesman Ryan Williams said the announcement demonstrated the continuing rollout in regional Queensland and with it "the many economic and social opportunities for local communities".
Telling consumers nothing they didn't already know and yearn for, Mr Williams went on to say that "fast broadband helps give residents access to e-health services, distance education and entertainment on demand and we have seen examples of businesses demonstrating an increase in productivity, reduction of costs and access to new markets."
Queensland currently has more than 56,400 homes, farms and businesses connected to the NBN.
Mr Williams said build preparation and construction activities were under way to deliver it to an additional 289,000 locations, but when and where this would take place was not stated.
Mr Scott said that while a solution was coming, he would ask Telstra to at least increase capacity to help people get better speeds.