Telstra CDMA malfunction at Temora NSW

I drove to the air show at Temora on the weekend and camped overnight. I tried to make a few calls on my Telstra CDMA phone without success, in the sense that the LED was showing a strong signal, the calls appeared to be going through according to the info on the screen, but apart from a brief amount of voice on the first call I could not hear anything through the earpiece. I tried using the earplug handsfree also without success. I decided my mobile, the best one I have had and very reliable over the 28 months I have been using it until now, was malfunctioning.

However on stopping for a cuppa at Yass on the way home I tried the phone again and it worked fine. I called Telstra and they said they had been having trouble with some areas of NSW but would not specifically indicate Temora. Of course they said I could always upgrade the phone, but if there are problem areas around the place that would not help, presumably.

Has anyone else had similar problems recently? It's a first for me.

G