Vodafone has today announced it will build 70 new base stations across regional Australia after securing a government grant through its Mobile Black Spot Programme.
The result is a major coup for Vodafone, but it also means that Australians living in regional areas might soon have a wider choice of telco suppliers servicing where they live and work. The 70 new base stations will be built in New South Wales, Queensland, Victoria, Western Australia and Tasmania.
Not only will improved coverage extend Vodafone’s own services to these regional zones, but also open up the possibility of customers choosing cheaper plan options through the various Vodafone wholesale partners, like Lebara Mobile.
“There is a lot of work still to be done to increase competition in the regional telecommunications market but we recognise the Federal Government’s efforts, through initiatives such as this programme, to start to level the playing field,” said Dan Llyod, Vodafone Director of Stategy and Corporate Affairs, in a statement.
“One of the barriers to competition has been insufficient incentives to share the full costs of mobile facilities in regional areas where it’s simply not economically viable to duplicate infrastructure,”
“It’s really important that industry maximises this opportunity to co-invest in these sites because when customers have choice, they pay fairer prices,” he said.
Vodafone recently funded research by The Centre for International Economics which estimated that Australians living in regional areas could be paying on average and extra $9 per month where Telstra services were the only option available, or $650 per year when fixed line services were also considered.
The money to build the new services will come from Round 1 of the Mobile Black Spot Programme, with $100-million allocated by the Government. A second $60-million round of investment will also be made.
Joseph Hanlon
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