Telephone giants EE, Vodafone, O2 and Three have all admitted they need to do more for customers in the area, including the introduction of fast 4G mobile services.
At a meeting convened by Montgomeryshire AM, Russell George, in Newtown on Friday, following significant problems with customers of EE, including no signal for weeks or limited services, all of the main operators admitted more needed to be done.
And communications regulator Ofcom, which was represented at the meeting, said it would issue financial penalties if nothing was done to improve the situation in the area.
EE has committed to having 4G in Newtown by mid January, although some customers have been experiencing temporary 4G services in recent days, and the others have admitted that services throughout Montgomeryshire need to improve.
It is likely that each of the main operators will introduce 4G to parts of Montgomeryshire, possibly to some of the main towns next year, even though many still don't even receive 3G services and are limited to 2G (basic mobile phone coverage), also known as GPRS.
But they all said they would be increasing capacity on their networks to improve services.
In recent months EE customers have faced limited or no services, affecting businesses and residents.
This has been blamed on masts being turned on and off as part of a new shared services agreement between operators where decisions are being taken on which masts in the area are better for geographic services with the roll out of 4G between the operators.
Mr George said he had been told it would be impossible to get the main mobile phone operators together.
“In recent months, my postbag has been dominated by frustrated residents and businesses from across north Powys asking why, in the 21st century, they are unable to make a simple phone call or receive a text message.
“From Newtown to Llanwddyn, residents have complained in their hundreds about the deterioration in mobile coverage in recent months," he said.
“As a result, I thought it was important to bring all four network operators and Ofcom the regulator to Mid Wales so that they could hear directly from community leaders about the day to day difficulties which residents experience due to the lack of a reliable mobile signal.
"It would also allow the opportunity to explain the reasons behind recent issues which have been partly attributed to the rollout of new 4G services and new network sharing agreements between the operators."
He added: “The meeting was productive and I was encouraged to learn that all operators are intending to improve the experience of mobile users in the area by providing additional capacity on their networks, and that in some parts of Montgomeryshire, 4G will soon be available.
"There was a commitment from EE that all of Newtown will receive 4G during January, and that this will also ensure the current difficulties are all resolved. This is a commitment that I will be reminding the operator about in the new year.
“I was also pleased that some of the operators at least acknowledged the poor customer service that many had faced by many Mid Wales customers, and the operators were left under illusions that they need to make big improvements to the way in which future coverage issues are communicated to their customers in a timely and efficient manner so that nobody is left in the dark when issues inevitably occur.
"I was further pleased that Ofcom who regulate the industry outlined there role, and confirmed that they would issue financial penalties if improvements were not made."
If you are experiencing on-going mobile coverage issues or have experienced a deterioration in service, Russell George AM would like to hear from you. Contact him by email: russell.george@assembly.wales or by telephone 01686 610887 to report any problems.