Round 2 of the Mobile Network Hardening Program is providing $14.2 million for 386 projects to deliver resilience upgrades across regional and remote Australia and in First Nations communities.
The Mobile Network Hardening Program (MNHP) is part of the Better Connectivity Plan for Regional and Remote Australia, a key initiative funded in the 2022-23 October budget to improve mobile and broadband connectivity and resilience.
The projects funded under Round 2 include:
- Battery back-up power capacity upgrades that will uplift reserves to provide an additional 12 hours of service during outages.
- Upgrades to transmission resiliency across mobile site clusters. This will mitigate the potential for single points of failure to cause broad outages.
- Permanent generators that will provide 5 to 7 days of backup power.
- Two Disaster Recovery Skids that can be deployed to restore mobile services to regional and remote New South Wales, Victoria and Tasmania, helping communities recover from natural disasters.
These projects aim to reduce the risks of service outages during natural disasters and throughout the response and recovery period.
This funding brings the total number of projects to be delivered to 1,385, with 90% of the 988 Round 1 projects now complete.
The Better Connectivity Plan is driving productivity and improving equity for rural and regional communities including economic and social participation and equality, access to online government, health and education services and public safety including on roads and during disasters and emergencies.
For a full list of funded projects, visit: Mobile Network Hardening Program-Round 2 funded sites.
