The Mobile Black Spot Program is an ongoing Australian federal government funding program aimed at adding mobile phone reception to areas which do not have it, such as communities, transport routes and

tourist destinations A tourist attraction is a place of interest that Tourism, tourists visit, typically for its inherent or an exhibited natural or cultural value, historical significance, natural or built beauty, offering leisure and amusement. Types Places of ...

. As of October 2022, over 1,200 mobile base stations have been funded and a total of 1,047 constructed by

Telstra Telstra Group Limited is an Australian telecommunications company that builds and operates telecommunications networks and markets voice, mobile, internet access, pay television and other products and services. It is a member of the S&P/ASX 20 ...

, Optus,

TPG Telecom TPG Telecom Limited, formerly Vodafone Hutchison Australia and renamed following the merger with TPG, is an Australian telecommunications company. It is the second largest telecommunications company listed on the Australian Securities Exchang ...

(formerly

Vodafone Vodafone Group Public limited company, plc () is a British Multinational corporation, multinational Telephone company, telecommunications company. Its registered office and Headquarters, global headquarters are in Newbury, Berkshire, England. It ...

), and Field Solutions Group (FSG). The need for a mobile black spot funding program was first identified in the government's 2011-12 Regional Telecommunications Review, with the first of the towers built under the program being switched on in December 2015. Mobile base stations built under the program are funded with contributions from the Commonwealth, the

network operators Network, networking and networked may refer to: Science and technology * Network theory, the study of graphs as a representation of relations between discrete objects * Network science, an academic field that studies complex networks Mathematics ...

themselves, and in some cases, state and local governments.

History

The program was established when the 2011-12 Regional Telecommunications Review found that the mobile coverage footprint in

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

was approaching the limit of commercial viability and financial incentive for network operators to continue expansion, which would leave many areas to continue to lack phone reception as there would not be an incentive for mobile carriers to continue expanding themselves. Prior to the establishment of the program, the government took submissions from the public for black spots to be addressed, with over 6,000 black spots throughout the country being submitted by the public. The Mobile Black Spot Program was an election promise of Tony Abbott's election campaign in 2013, when he pledged $20 million of government funding specifically to the program, $80 million to improving coverage in areas such as major transport routes and stated intention to collaborate with

NBN Co NBN Co Limited, known as simply nbn, is a publicly owned corporation of the Australian Government, tasked to design, build and operate Australia's National Broadband Network as the nation's wholesale broadband provider. The corporation reports ...

to co-locate black spot funded towers on existing NBN fixed wireless towers.

Round 1

499 base stations were funded under the first round of the program, with $100 million of government money.

received funding to build 429 base stations, and

got 70. Optus was absent from this first round. The first tower out of this round to be commissioned was a

tower, at the White Rock Wind Farm near Glen Innes, New South Wales.

Round 2

266 base stations were funded under round 2 of the program, with $57.5 million of federal government money, and $54 million contributed from state and local governments. 146 sites were built by

, 113 were built by Optus, and

got funding for just 4, which they expressed disappointment about.

Round 3 (Priority Locations)

Round 3 of the program was focused on locations perceived to be of a high priority by the government. $60 million was allocated to 89 locations. Optus was allocated 12 sites,

got one, the remainder of the funding going to

. The first tower under this round was switched on in June 2018, at East Lynne, New South Wales.

Round 4

180 base stations were built from the $25 million allocated to this round of the program.

built 131 towers, and Optus 49, with

absent from funding in this round.

Round 5

182 new base stations were funded under this round, funding for which

got 97 mobile sites, Optus 83, and Field Solutions Group got 2, who also made their debut in the program in this round. $36.8 million of Commonwealth government money was used in this round.

Round 5A

Round 5A was established as a supplementary round to Round 5, as out of the $80 million allocated to the round initially, only $36.8 million was used. Under this round, there was a specific focus on major transport routes and disaster prone areas. Field Solutions Group received funding to trial their neutral host model, which would have the possibility of providing reception to customers of any mobile carrier. FSG built these towers along the Adventure Way in Queensland, in conjunction with Optus. 67 new base stations were funded under this round, with

getting funding for 48, Optus for 4, and the remainder going to FSG.

Round 6 (Improving Mobile Coverage)

Round 6 has been dubbed the "improving mobile coverage" round, set to target 54 locations, for which $80 million of funding has been committed.

Criticism

From the telcos

, after receiving funding to build just 4 base stations in round 2 of the program, criticised

's dominant share in the program. After this, they attempted to convince the ACCC to declare domestic mobile

roaming Roaming is a wireless telecommunication term typically used with mobile devices, such as mobile phones. It refers to a mobile phone being used outside the range of its native network and connecting to another available cell network. Technical ...

, a policy which would allow all mobile network providers to roam on the infrastructure of any other provider, and thereby greatly increase the regional network footprint of

in particular. The ACCC launched an inquiry into domestic roaming but decided against it, declaring it would "harm the interests of

consumer A consumer is a person or a group who intends to order, or uses purchased goods, products, or services primarily for personal, social, family, household and similar needs, who is not directly related to entrepreneurial or business activities. T ...

s by undermining the incentives of

mobile operators A mobile network operator (MNO), also known as a wireless service provider, wireless carrier, cellular company, or mobile network carrier, is a provider of wireless communications services that owns or controls all the elements necessary to sell ...

to make investments to compete with each other in regional areas".

later attempted to dispute the decision in the

Federal Court of Australia The Federal Court of Australia is an Australian superior court of record which has jurisdiction to deal with most civil disputes governed by federal law (with the exception of family law matters), along with some summary (less serious) and indic ...

, but ultimately lost the case.

From the public

In multiple instances, the telecommunications company chosen to construct a phone tower has caused some controversy in the communities served, usually in cases where Optus was selected to build a phone tower in an area already dominated by

. Complaints were made that in order to make use of this tower, phone users would have to subscribe to the Optus network, which would only be usable in that given area, and not the other surrounding areas served exclusively by

. The

Tjukayirla Roadhouse Tjukayirla Roadhouse (commonly pronounced "Chook-a–year-la") is a remote roadhouse on the Great Central Road in Western Australia. It is located in the Shire of Laverton and operated by the Papulankutja (Blackstone) Community, one of the foun ...

is an example of this situation, where Optus received funding as they were the only telco to apply for a tender at this location. In another instance, the owner of the Archer River Roadhouse in far north

Queensland ) , nickname = Sunshine State , image_map = Queensland in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of Queensland in Australia , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Australia , established_title = Before federation , established_ ...

described the decision to build an Optus site instead of

at that location as "ludicrous", as residents of the nearby area used exclusively

services. Telstra went on and built a base station at Archer River Roadhouse. Somewhat proving how the program stimulates competition between the carriers.

Audit of Round 1

The Australian National Audit Office criticised round 1 of the program, believing it provided taxpayers "poor value for money". A report from the auditor found that out of the 499 base stations built under round 1, 39 would have been built anyway by the network operators without needing public funding, and another 89 only provided minimal benefit to residents lacking coverage.

References

{{reflist