Of the 67 sites set to collect AU$20.5 million in government funding, Telstra has walked away with 48 sites.
The Commonwealth has announced the winners of Round 5A of the mobile blackspot program, with Telstra taking away the lion’s share of sites. The incumbent telco gained 48 of 67 sites chosen, Field Solutions picked up 15, and Optus walked away with four small cell sites in Western Australia. Broken down by state, New South Wales gained 30 sites, Queensland picked up nine, South Australia and Tasmania had two each, Victoria collected 10, and Western Australia gained 14 sites in total. The supplementary round of Commonwealth funding was opened after only AU$36.8 million of the AU$80 million set aside for round 5 was taken up. “This announcement brings the total number of base stations funded under our Mobile Black Spot Program to over 1,270 base stations, representing a total investment of over AU$875 million,” Minister for Regionalisation, Regional Communications and Regional Education Senator Bridget McKenzie said.
