Irene McCawley, who became a centenarian in June, keeps in contact with family and friends through her home phone, her only form of telecommunication. Two weeks ago her phone broke, and frustratingly, her good health deteriorated in the same period.

Ms McCawley has lived at her home in Page for 34 years, for about 15 of which she has been on her own. She said this was the first time she'd literally been disconnected from the outside world.

She feels so isolated and worried she might not be able to call an ambulance if needed that her neighbour, Madhu Kalia, has been staying overnight so she can get some sleep.

Ms Kalia said she's been helping her friend to try to resolve the phone troubles, but despite explaining the situation to the phone company, TransACT, they did not escalate the complaint.

"For her, this is a lifeline," Ms Kalia said.

"Other people can last with other modes of communication, she can't."

TransACT said they became aware of the problem on October 26 through contact made with their call centre.

"A fault was lodged with our third party with an appointment date of October 31," the spokesman said.

"On further contact with the customer on November 1 we were made aware the tech appointment did not resolve the issue therefore at this stage we immediately re-opened a fault with our third party.

"We were then advised that this would require a further technician consultation by a specific area, this has been scheduled to occur by November 16."

The third party is Telstra, who own the infrastructure used by TransACT.

According to Telstra, they knew nothing about the customer when they determined a timeframe to fix the line.

"We certainly understand the concerns when an elderly person is without a phone service," a Telstra spokesman said.

"As the customer is with another provider, we have only recently been made aware of their specific circumstances and we are doing all we can to assist.

"We have contacted the customer's provider and are working with them to complete the works required as quickly as possible."

For Ms McCawley, the repairs can't come soon enough.

"If I'm in need of an ambulance straight away when my panic comes on, how can I get an ambulance when I haven't got a phone?" she questioned.

"I feel frantic, I feel completely isolated."

Despite the struggles she's faced without a phone, Ms McCawley said she didn't want to be seen to be complaining.

TransACT and Telstra have agreed to re-prioritise the case and attempt to have the problem resolved prior to the scheduled date of November 16.