While most Australians could not imagine life without their mobile phones, some remote communities are thinking twice about getting coverage, even knocking back the chance of a phone tower.

The Federal Government is spending $220 million subsiding the roll-out of Optus and Telstra coverage at more than 850 regional and remote sites across Australia.

Kalumburu, a community of 500 people on the northern tip of WA, has voted to accept the offer, but there are mixed feelings among locals.

There are concerns in Kalumburu about the social impact of mobile phone coverage. ( Emily Jane Smith )

Resident Veronica Djanghara said some community members, particularly the elderly, were concerned about the impact of social media and texting on the community's children.

"They're worried they will be running around with mobile phones taking photos of people fighting, boxing on the streets, and putting it on Facebook and then everywhere in the world … people can see it," she said.

But another resident, Matilda Oxtoby, said mobile coverage would be positive for Kalumburu.

"Mobile phones are good to get in touch with family because people here have families everywhere and it's hard to get in touch with them when they live far away," she said.

Kalumburu resident Matilda Oxtoby believes mobile phone coverage will help locals stay in touch with extended family. ( ABC News: Erin Parke )

Queuing for the phone box

It is a 12-hour drive from Kalumburu to the nearest town, and existing telecommunications are limited.

There is wi-fi access at the local community resource centre, but other than that residents have to queue up to use the town's two public phone boxes.

The community's two public pay phones are in high demand. ( ABC News: Emily Jane Smith )

Frequently the phone starts ringing out of the blue, requiring whoever is walking past to pick up the handset and shout across the main square for the person wanted on the other end of the line.

All locals agree that the arrival of mobile phone coverage will alter their lives, exposing them to the best and worst of the world beyond the bumpy, red dirt Kalumburu access road.

Map Kalumburu map

'We don't want the Optus thing here'

On top of the concerns about the impact on children, the patchwork of services in remote areas also concerns communities.

The Kupungarri communities, on the Gibb River Road in the Kimberley, have said "thanks, but no thanks" to the offer of a Government-subsidised Optus small cell phone tower.

The resistance is mainly due to the fact that most residents already own a Telstra SIM card.

There is no coverage in the community itself, but the telco has superior coverage in nearby towns.

Residents including Dwayne Donation said Optus coverage would require them to switch mobile phones or SIM cards as they moved around.

"The community asked everybody, all the members, and everybody said no," he said.

"They still want mobile coverage, but Telstra is the main thing with people here, it's everywhere, in Darwin and Kununurra and Halls Creek.

"We don't want to have to have two phones.

"So we rang them back and told them, 'we don't want the Optus thing here'."

In a statement, an Optus spokesman said the telco was committed to providing mobile coverage to remote parts of Australia.

"Optus has had very few locations that have been withdrawn from the Federal Government's Mobile Black Spot program, with varying reasons for withdrawal," he said.

The Federal Department of Communications and the Arts, which awards the remote phone tower contracts, said the new coverage would provide benefits regardless of the SIM cards used.

A spokesman said many communities, particularly those in very remote parts of Australia, would benefit from new mobile coverage that they otherwise may not have received, pointing out the new phone towers would allow residents to make emergency calls even if they were contracted to a different telco.

Excitement, concern over social media

Meanwhile, back in Kalumburu, teenagers and younger children said they couldn't wait for easy access to social media.

Children in Kalumburu are excited about the prospect of getting more access to social media.

Bronwyn Morlumbun, 14, said most of her friends had already started accounts using computers at school and at the community resource centre.

"We all have Instagram, Snapchat, Facebook and Twitter … but we don't get to use them much," she said.

"Most of the time we feel a bit cut off … but having the internet on our phones would mean we can contact family and stuff and see how they are doing."

But elders are concerned that the increased access to social media could inflame long-running tensions between families.

Kalumburu community chairman Clement Maraltaj says mobile phone coverage will help residents keep in touch. ( ABC News: Erin Parke )

Locals explain that the feuds stem from tribal groupings that pre-date the Kalumburu community and the Drysdale River Mission that preceded it.

But community chairman Clement Maraltaj said he did not think it would be a problem.

"The sooner we get mobile phone range the better, so that people can get in touch with the outside world," he said.

"It will be good for people to find out what is happening, because hardly anyone from this community ever goes outside of the community."