The Albanese Government has launched a Project Noticeboard to assist communities to identify potential projects or locations to be funded from Round 3 of the Mobile Network Hardening Program (MHNP).
The MNHP aims to reduce the risks of service outages and improve restoration times of mobile telecommunications in communities impacted by natural disasters by co-funding projects with carriers and telco companies that aim to deliver resilience upgrades. This can include portable generators, power back-up upgrades and physical mobile tower hardening.
Under Round 3, the Government is providing $20 million for projects located in areas impacted by, or at risk of, a natural disaster in regional and remote Australia and - for the first time - in the peri-urban fringe of 19 capital and major regional cities.
The peri-urban fringe is where the bush meets the edges of the suburbs, creating risks of natural disasters for those living and working in those areas. The expansion of Round 3 to include peri-urban areas ensures they will also have access to resilient mobile communications services during and after natural disasters.
Opening today, the Project Noticeboard allows local councillors and state, territory and federal parliamentarians to identify potential projects or locations suitable for funding under Round 3, with telco industry applicants encouraged to review these submissions when preparing their applications.
In total, the Government is investing $2.2 billion in regional communications - the most significant investment in this critical area since the inception of the National Broadband Network.
Rounds 1 and 2 of the MNHP are funding approximately 1,386 projects nationwide, with 896 already complete.
To view the Project Noticeboard, please visit: https://www.infrastructure.gov.au/media-communications-arts/phone/mobile-network-hardening-program/mobile-network-hardening-program-round-3-project-noticeboard
