A competitive assessment process for the fourth round of the Mobile Black Spot Program co-ordinated by the federal government will get underway in the second half of 2018, the government has announced.
Up for grabs is about $25 million in funding to improve coverage in black spot areas across regional Australia – with the government focusing on ways to improve outcomes for regional businesses and residents, as well as tourism, health, education and emergency services.
Minister for Regional Communications Bridget McKenzie says the government will invest in areas overlooked by mobile network operators, due to commercial reasons.
“The new round will call for applications from mobile carriers within the coming months, taking input from state, territory and local governments, as well as businesses, community organisations and emergency services,” she says.
“The rollout of base stations under previous rounds of the Mobile Black Spot Program is over halfway complete, delivering benefits to hundreds of communities throughout Australia, by connecting them to essential business, education and health services.”
The department is on track to deliver 867 base stations nationwide by June 2019, she says.
The program launch comes after the government announced the completion of its Priority Black Spot Program in April, with Optus, Telstra and Vodafone receiving $45.6 million in funding to build 102 new base stations around Australia.
These base stations are being rolled out by the companies on an ongoing basis.