Government announces mobile blackspot round 2

The Australian government has announced the second round of its mobile blackspot program, providing AU$60 million to bring better telecommunications coverage to regional areas.

The funding will be used by telcos to build mobile base stations in rural Australia, with locations to be nominated by December 31.

"The Commonwealth government has committed AU$60 million to provide new or upgraded mobile coverage to black spots in regional and remote Australia under Round 2 of the mobile blackspot program, and we're calling on members of the public to nominate black spots in their local area by 31 December," Minister for Communications Mitch Fifield said.

"This new funding is on top of the AU$100 million committed to Round 1 of the program, which leveraged co-contributions from mobile operators, state and local governments, and third parties for a total funding envelope of AU$385 million."

Sites nominated by the public will be entered into a national database. The 3,000 of the 6,000 locations that were unsuccessful during Round 1 of the program will also be added to the database.

Telcos can then choose from this list of localities during the "competitive selection process" in early 2016, outlining where they would build or upgrade a base station. These sites will then be subject to a ranking system in accordance with the guidelines supplied by the government.

The government will announce the successful locations at the end of next year.

The first round of mobile blackspot funding was opened in December last year, with Telstra and Vodafone securing AU$185 million in government funding to build or upgrade 499 mobile towers across Australia.

The base stations will be switched on by the end of this year, with the full rollout to be completed within three years.

The second blackspot round follows the federal government tabling its report on regional telecommunications services in Parliament in October, finding that safeguards must be put in place to ensure remote areas are given equal access to mobile phone and National Broadband Network (NBN) services.

"People living in regional Australia rely heavily on telecommunications in their everyday lives, and the government will give careful consideration to the committee's recommendations before providing a response," Fifield said at the time.

Vodafone CEO Inaki Berroeta recently detailed Vodafone's involvement in the mobile blackspot program, saying it is vital to bring coverage to all parts of Australia.

"The mobile blackspot program is a great step forward towards giving customers in regional areas better coverage, and often, for the first time, the opportunity to choose a mobile provider. Choice results in better and lower prices, which means improved productivity for farmers and businesses," he said in October.

"On the mobile blackspot program ... we've been increasing our network in New South Wales, Tasmania, Queensland, Western Australia, and also Victoria. I think one of the biggest areas of potential of this program is the requirement for winning bidders to look at co-investing in mobile towers and shared transmission links with other mobile network operators. Sharing of infrastructure simply makes sense. It helps operators to save costs, and helps consumers by extending coverage and competition."

Berroeta warned that without competition in regional areas, Australia will be left behind by the global digital revolution.

"Mobile technology has a big part to play in building a productive and truly national digital economy. By optimising the use of next-generation mobility, we can leverage Australia's strengths in industries such as agriculture, education, transport, healthcare, and tourism," Berroeta said.

"It is well understood that telecommunications is a critical area of the economy. It can drive jobs, innovation, and productivity, but a lack of competition and innovation in the sector will hold the economy back.

"Currently, in Australia, we have two classes of mobile customers: Those with access to coverage and choice of provider in metropolitan areas, and those without in many regional and rural areas.

"The cost of lack of competition in the telco market across Australia is AU$3.1 billion each year. That's AU$3.1 billion which could be driving growth, but instead, it's threatening the government's worthy aspirations of a world-leading digital economy."

Optus, which missed out on funding in the first round of the mobile blackspot program, has since claimed that it already covers 100 percent of the Australian population with mobile coverage thanks to the launch of its SatSleeve satellite service.

Satellite communications company Thuraya is supplying the SatSleeve+ and SatSleeve Hotspot to Optus customers, providing mobile services all over Australia as long as the customer is within line of sight of the satellite.