Five priority locations nominated for mobile black spot funding

22 Jul 2020

Posted October 18, 2018

Seven priority sites in five locations have been put forward by the Federal Member for Mayo, Rebekha Sharkie, for Round 4 of the Federal Government’s Mobile Black Spot Program.

However, the short-list was in addition to hundreds of other sites submitted to the Department of Communications and the Arts after the MP put out the call for nominations last month.

“I submitted every single site nominated by our community to the Government,” Rebekha said.

“But after taking a closer look at the problem areas highlighted by local residents and considering the information from telecommunication companies regarding black spot complaints they receive from customers in the electorate, I have provided the Government with a short-list of seven black spot sites in five locations.

“The priority list includes the areas of Highland Valley/Bugle Ranges, Kuitpo, Cudlee Creek, Carey Gully and Vivonne Bay on Kangaroo Island.”

Round 4 makes $25 million available later this year for telecommunications carriers to tender for selected black spot sites.

The Government did not seeking direct nominations from members of the public in this round but invited Members of Parliament to recommend locations chosen by their communities.

“I received hundreds of recommendations from residents across Mayo but it was interesting to note that all the sites fell within black spot areas nominated prior to Round 1 in 2016,” Rebekha said.

“Having access to good mobile phone coverage is vitally important and often life-saving in our community so I thank our community for their interest in mobile black spots.”

To date more than 600 base stations have been constructed across Australia under the Mobile Black Spot Program. Mayo has previously secured funding for sites at Montacute, Stokes Bay/Gosse, Parawa, Gosse and Ashbourne.

All the sites funded in the previous three rounds are scheduled to be delivered by 30 June 2019.

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