Regional mobile coverage will be improved with 182 new base stations planned under Round Five of the Federal Government’s Mobile Black Spot Program.
The results of the Round 5 assessment process were announced on 21 April, taking to 1229 the total number of base stations funded under the Mobile Black Spot Program.
According to the Department of Infrastructure, Transport, Regional Development and Communications, the base stations being funded under each successive round are becoming progressively less economic for mobile network providers.
This fact, and the results from Round 5, suggest that fewer sites are likely to be successfully funded if future rounds are held under the existing program design.
Therefore, Round 5A will be used to test a range of different program designs, with funding to be drawn from the unused portion of monies allocated to Round 5.
A discussion paper to canvass different program designs which could be tested under the future Round 5A was released on 21 April.
Click here to provide feedback on the discussion paper, or to view the full list of Round 5 locations.
Round 5A’s timing will be decided once responses to the discussion paper have been received and considered.