Central west residents are set to benefit from improved mobile coverage under Round 5 of the government's Mobile Black Spot Program.
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A total of 182 new base stations will be delivered under Round 5, which are expected to be rolled out in the coming months, with the first new stations to be activated by the end of 2020.
In the Parkes electorate, there will be four new base stations; at Gin Gin and Mullengudgery (Field Solutions Group) plus Haddon Rig and at Kickabil (Telstra)
The announcement of the successful Round 5 locations brings the total number of base stations funded under the program to 1229.
Parkes MP Mark Coulton said telecommunications has shown to be one of the most important issues for regional Australia during the COVID-19 crisis.
Mr Coulton, who is also the Regional Communications Minister, said Round 5 is interesting because for the first time FSG have come on board.
"They have nominated and been successful to put up two towers in the central west around the Narromine/Trangie area and they will be using those towers to also deliver higher speed wireless broadband to rural properties in those areas," he said.
The government is contributing $34 million to Round 5 to deliver total new investment of more than $73 together with co-contributions from funding recipients and state governments.
The next step in the Blackspot Program will be to conduct a Round 5A to test a range of different program designs.
Funding for Round 5A will be drawn from the unused portion of the funding allocated to Round 5.
To view the Round 5 locations, or provide feedback on the discussion paper for future rounds visit communicaitons.gov.au
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