Areas such as Redesdale and Sedgwick have long campaigned for better mobile coverage, with town’s along the train line corridor among the worst for reception.

The City of Greater Bendigo is encouraging residents to register black spots on the government’s Mobile Black Spot Programme webpage, in the hope of securing funding for new and improved towers.

City strategy manager Trevor Budge said poor mobile coverage had impacted responses in emergency situations and was holding some areas back.

“Infrastructure maintenance and upgrades have not kept pace with the growing number of devices that people use, such as internet dongles, smart phones and tablets,” he said.

The electorate of Bendigo, which extends from Elmore to Macedon, received two of the 499 upgrades across Australia in the first round of the program, which allocated $100 million.

The second round includes $60 million worth of upgrades.

The funding will focus on high-risk bushfire areas and areas where there is zero reception.

The state government was unsuccessful in redirecting the funds to improve coverage on the state’s train lines, which it believed would improve service for nearby towns.

Member for Bendigo Lisa Chesters said the funding was unlikely to be enough to fix the dozens, and potentially hundreds, of black spots across the region.

She said the federal government asked MPs to nominate their “top three” mobile black spots in their electorate, which she said would barely scratch the surface of the problem.

Macedon Ranges has already received the details of black spots from hundreds of residents.

Ms Chesters said asking residents and councils to compile lists on behalf of the government could give some “false hope” that their coverage problems would be solved.

“The amount of funding is not enough to create partnerships with telecommunication companies to fix black spots in our area,” she said.

“There needs to be more funding, and we also need the NBN roll out to continue to relieve some of the pressure on mobile services.

“They’re asking residents and councils to do a lot of work, when in reality few black spots will be included.”

More than 6200 locations were nominated across Australia for the first round, with eight per cent receiving funding for an improvement.

The deadline to nominate the mobile phone black spots is on January 15. Visit www.communications.gov.au/blackspots