Communities on the fringes of Australia's major urban and regional cities will share in $40.9 million for new improved mobile coverage under Round 2 of the Australian Government's Peri-Urban Mobile Program (PUMP), delivering a major boost for communities at risk of natural disaster.
The peri-urban fringe is where the bush meets the suburbs, creating natural disaster risks for those living and working there. These areas have been historically underserved because of the high cost of deploying infrastructure, difficult terrain, planning challenges and lower population densities.
Funding has been awarded to mobile carriers and tower companies for 47 solutions that will deliver new or upgraded mobile phone infrastructure that targets longstanding mobile coverage and reception issues being experienced by peri-urban communities. The solutions are expected to deliver hundreds of square kilometres of 4G and 5G new improved coverage to communities in Adelaide, Ballarat, Bendigo, Brisbane, Cairns, Central Coast (NSW), Darwin, Geelong, Gold Coast/Tweed Heads, Hobart, Melbourne, Newcastle, Perth, Sydney, Toowoomba, Townsville, Wollongong, and to almost 80,000 other premises.
Co-contributions totalling $43 million are being made towards the projects by the telco industry and the Queensland Government, highlighting the government's work with industry and governments to deliver better coverage to Australians, sooner.
Two mobile carriers will share infrastructure at 9 of these sites, improving both coverage and choice for consumers. The remaining 38 projects will be required to offer co-location to interested mobile carriers, where technically feasible, to support potential multi-carrier outcomes at these sites in the future.
In a win for communities, the government will bring forward funding reserved for a future round of PUMP to support a larger number of Round 2 projects. This means communities will be able to enjoy the benefits of the government's investment sooner.
The PUMP complements other government initiatives to improve telecommunications services across Australia, through its $1.1 billion Better Connectivity Plan for Regional and Rural Australia.
