Optus lights up fifth site as part of Victoria’s Maddingley regional rail connectivity project

Optus has completed work on a new mobile site in Maddingley as part of the Victorian Government’s regional rail connectivity project (RRCP) to improve mobile coverage along the state’s five busiest regional rail corridors.

Located on the line connecting Ballarat and Melbourne, the new tower will provide improved coverage to Optus customers and commuters along over five kilometres of track that previously offered limited coverage.

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“Our new site at Maddingley complements the significant investment we have been putting into improving our regional network across Victoria. Government initiatives like the RRCP play an important role in supporting the roll out of critical telecommunications networks into regional Australia.

“The government should be congratulated for embracing industry collaboration under this project and we are pleased to be working alongside other telecommunications companies for the benefit of all rail passengers in these regional communities,” said Vin Mullins, Optus Manager Mobile Access Planning.

Maddingley is the fifth Optus site to go live since the project was announced with sites at Ballan, Chewton, Taradale and Pakenham East already up and running as part of the RRCP agreement.

“With the support of VicTrack and the installation of onboard equipment to boost the signal from mobile towers inside the rail carriage on the Vlocity trains, the thousands of commuters who utilise the Ballarat line daily will now have more reliable coverage on their journey to and from Melbourne,” Mullins said.

Optus is leading construction on 16 sites as part of the project, including the Big Hill Tunnel and will co-locate on a further 12 sites. Construction on a new site at Longwarry, along the Traralgon line, is about to commence with Optus expecting 12 of its 16 lead sites to be on air by early November.

Victorian Minister for Innovation and the Digital Economy Philip Dalidakis said it was pleasing to see the project progressing and giving more mobile phone coverage and choice to those living and travelling in regional Victoria

“We realise that people in regional areas haven’t always had the coverage they deserve – this project means commuters can work or play while travelling along Victoria’s five busiest rail lines and we thank Optus for their assistance in delivering it.”

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