Consultation on design options for Round 5A of the Mobile Black Spot Program

We are seeking input on the design of Round 5A of the Mobile Black Spot Program. The program funds telecommunications infrastructure to deliver new and improved coverage in regional and remote Australia. The Australian Government has committed $380 million over six rounds to the program.

The program objectives are to provide mobile telecommunications users in regional and remote Australia with:

• access to increased handheld and external antenna mobile coverage, and
• greater choice of mobile network.

The first five rounds of the program have been highly successful, funding 1,229 new mobile base stations. These base stations are delivering hundreds of thousands of square kilometres of new coverage to regional and remote Australia.

We are seeking stakeholder views on the design of the next round of the program, to identify opportunities and lessons learnt, so the program continues to deliver high value outcomes to regional and remote Australia.

Feedback will inform the design of the Round 5A program guidelines.

Telecommunications industry, all levels of government and other interested stakeholders are encouraged to make a submission to help inform the Government's consideration of possible program implementation methods.