The weather bomb caused slips and flooding in some areas forcing council staff to close some roads or make them single lane only.
Wards told councillors that on trips to Akitio and Pongaroa it was pointed out that it was easier for some residents to report any issues by phone rather than use the 'Report It' app on the website.
She said there was no feedback loop assuring them the message had got through.
Sharon Wards said some residents in rural Tararua had been without phone coverage or internet during the recent bad weather. Photo / NZME
She was also told some residents had lost internet and/or phones during the weather bomb.
Wards said she'd also heard from residents in Akitio that Chorus was in the process of getting rid of copper lines.
"There are some areas out there that Connect Tararua haven't been able to assist and they're completely reliant on a copper line," she said.
Connect Tararua was an initiative started some years ago to bring together those with an interest in helping to improve connectivity.
A spokesperson from Spark said the communications provider offered both copper broadband and wireless broadband services in parts of Pongaroa and Weber.
Wireless operated via Spark's mobile network and customers could connect to the nearest cell tower for a fixed broadband service.
A landline service was also available through wireless.
Spark, Vodafone and 2degrees had a joint venture known as the Rural Connectivity Group to improve wireless broadband availability in rural areas.
The group had recently deployed a new cell tower in Pongaroa, which had improved mobile service and created more availability of wireless broadband.
"We are aware that mobile connectivity in Weber can be intermittent, and we intend to work with Government in an effort to gain funding in order to improve mobile coverage in rural areas like Weber."
Spark's cell towers have battery reserves in case of power outages but those were exhausted during the period of recent bad weather. Photo / Warren Buckland
The spokesperson said some cell sites had some service disruptions in the past few weeks due to power outages caused by bad weather.
"However, these are now fully operational again, so these issues should be resolved.
"We apologise to all customers who were affected."
Spark also advised customers to check their outage page to find out if there was a problem on Spark's mobile network.
The corporate acknowledged there were "significant challenges" for rural connectivity because of New Zealand's geography.
The spokesperson said the Rural Connectivity Group was contracted by Crown Infrastructure Partners to deliver the Government's programmes which were developed to help bridge the digital divide for rural communities, ensuring the rural sector could remain competitive internationally.
Wairarapa MP Kieran McAnulty said there had been an outage affecting the Pongaroa and Weber communities.
He said this was due to the wet weather, which affected multiple parts of the Chorus network, and Covid-19 sickness and stand-downs slowed repairs.
"I appreciate that there are connectivity issues facing people in rural and remote parts of the country. To address these issues, the Government has made an election manifesto commitment to spend a further $60 million on rural connectivity."
On the issue of replacing copper fixed line, McAnulty said these would only be withdrawn from areas where there was fibre already available on that street.
The Commerce Commission had also developed a '111 contact code' that set out conditions Chorus had to meet before removing copper services, ensuring that people were provided with an alternative means of contacting the 111 emergency service if they had no access to their old copper network.
