Over 650 sites for the Mobile Black Spot Program: Telstra’s Mike Wright

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by Mike Wright, Group Managing Director, Networks – Telstra

We’re delivering new mobile coverage to regional Australia with 89 new priority sites, bringing our total commitment under the Mobile Black Spot Program to over 650 sites.

Today, I’m proud to announce we’re boosting the number of base stations we’re building under the Federal Government’s Mobile Black Spot Program (MBSP), as Telstra has won an additional 89 sites in the Priority Round. Eighty-four of these sites will be delivered through mobile base stations, and five will be delivered through our 4G small cell technology. This represents a total Telstra investment of $260 million – more than double the commitment of all the other carriers combined – to bring new coverage to regional and rural communities.

We are already past the halfway mark of our commitment to delivering more than 650 sites. Hundreds of regional and remote communities previously without coverage are now benefiting from, or will get the benefit of, our state-of-the-art mobile coverage.

Places like the iconic Bourke and Wills Road House in Queensland and regional towns like Victoria’s Gormandale – that have made more than 500,000 calls since their tower was switched on – are just some of the places already benefiting from new and improved coverage.

And the advantages continue

Every day, Telstra’s network is connecting millions of Australians – connecting friends and families, businesses, farms, tourist spots and essential services across Australia and around the world.

New locations awarded to Telstra in the Priority Round include:

  • Tourist attractions like Australia Zoo and North Stradbroke Island in Queensland
  • Holiday areas like Gembrook in Victoria, Swan Valley in Western Australia and Megalong Valley in New South Wales
  • Farming areas like Kalangadoo in South Australia and Gunns Plains in Tasmania
  • Coastal areas like Wonga Beach and Yeppoon in Queensland, Killcare in New South Wales, and Shoreham in Victoria
  • Travel routes including Clyde Mountain in New South Wales, Wide Bay Highway in Queensland, and Hyland Highway in Victoria

We are pleased to be bringing new or improved coverage to 160,000 km2 of the country through our invested commitment in three rounds of the Government’s Black Spot program.

This complements our direct investment in building Australia’s largest and fastest mobile network* and together these investments have now extended our national coverage beyond the 2.5M km2 barrier.

Telstra has a long and proud history of investing in regional Australia. We have invested $2.2 billion in our regional mobile network in the last three financial years so more Australians can experience a better supported, connected world.

This article was republished with kind permission from Telstra Group Managing Director, Networks Mike Wright. It was first published here.

 

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