Credit: Supplied
The federal government is considering bringing in co-investment for regional mobile carriers and has established a parliamentary inquiry into the matter.
The Standing Committee on Communications and the Arts has been tasked with looking into the experience, opportunities and challenges for co-investment in multi-carrier regional mobile infrastructure following a request from the Minister for Communications Michelle Rowland in September.
Specifically, the committee is to look into the costs, feasibility and benefits associated with a single carrier versus multiple carriers.
The inquiry comes as Australia’s mobile infrastructure is not co-located, particularly in regional areas, according to a statement from the House of Representatives.
“The rates of co-location for Australia’s major mobile providers dramatically decline as you move from urban to regional and remote areas, to as low as 4.8 per cent in very remote areas,” the statement noted.
Meanwhile, committee chair Brian Mitchell said co-investment would allow “multiple providers in regional areas to invest in and share ‘multi-carrier’ mobile towers and related infrastructure, to improve services.
“Connectivity and infrastructure are critical drivers of regional development. It is particularly important that we hear directly from our rural, regional and remote communities to hear their views on connecting and staying connected to telecommunications infrastructure,” he said.
The committee is accepting submissions into the inquiry until 10 November.
