“We apologise to our customers for the interruption to their mobile service and understand the frustration this can cause,” a Telstra spokesperson said.

“Our technicians are working to have services restored as quickly as possible.”

In a response to complaints raised on social media, Telstra said there was a reported fault with a 3G mobile tower in Bendigo.

Telstra said technicians were expecting replacement hardware to arrive for installation on Saturday.

“The teams on the phone or chat link can discuss plan fee credits for the downtime as well as the call redirection,” a subsequent Tweet said.

Telstra was responding to complaints of mobile phones having no service or SOS only coverage.

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