{"id":15959,"date":"2022-04-05T10:07:12","date_gmt":"2022-04-05T10:07:12","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/?p=15959"},"modified":"2022-04-05T10:07:12","modified_gmt":"2022-04-05T10:07:12","slug":"major-connectivity-boost-for-roads-regional-communities-and-farms","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/index.php\/2022\/04\/05\/major-connectivity-boost-for-roads-regional-communities-and-farms\/","title":{"rendered":"Major Connectivity Boost for Roads, Regional Communities and Farms"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>Better mobile coverage on roads, as well as improved connectivity for regional communities and on farms, will lead an Albanese Labor Government\u2019s approach to upgrading regional telecommunications.&nbsp;<br><br><strong>Boosting coverage on roads and in regional communities&nbsp;<\/strong><br>\u202f&nbsp;<br>A key element of Labor\u2019s Better Connectivity For Rural and Regional Australia plan will be&nbsp;the establishment of a $400 million fund to expand multi-carrier mobile coverage along roads, as well as for regional homes and businesses.\u202f&nbsp;<br><br>To support this, Labor will commit $20 million to commence in 2022 an independent national audit of mobile coverage to establish an evidence baseline to guide future priorities.&nbsp;<br><br>\u202fA competitive tender process will be used to identify a partner company capable of placing mobile signal measurement devices on Australia Post\u2019s transport assets, to gather the best information possible.\u202f&nbsp;<br><br>Priorities will be assessed\u202findependently\u202fto maximise benefits, and this will include consultation with Infrastructure Australia, and broader community consultation.&nbsp;<br><br><strong>Boosting connectivity for regional and peri-urban households and businesses&nbsp;<\/strong><br><br>Labor will also commit $200 million to continue investing in place-based connectivity projects. Drawing from the Regional Connectivity Program, funded projects\u202fcould\u202finclude\u202fbetter\u202fmobile voice and data coverage,\u202ftargeted fibre deployments, and improved microwave and fibre backhaul capacity to locations across regional and remote Australia.&nbsp;<br><br><strong>Boosting on-farm connectivity for farmers\u202f&nbsp;<\/strong><br><br>To support the productivity and safety of our farmers, Labor will also commit $30 million to help expand on-farm connectivity and enable better wireless extension solutions on the field.\u202f&nbsp;<br><br>This will enable more farmers to fully utilise sensor and connected-machinery technology to improve the efficiency of domestic food production and support the export growth potential of the sector.&nbsp;<br><br>Labor will boost funding for the Regional Tech Hub by $6 million to serve as a trusted intermediary and source of free and independent advice.&nbsp;<br><br>These initiatives supplement existing commitments Labor has made to:&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\"><li>Expand full-fibre NBN access to 660,000 more regional homes and businesses.&nbsp;<\/li><li>Upgrade the NBN\u202ffixed-wireless network to offer speeds between 100 and 250 megabits per second for all users.&nbsp;<\/li><li>Increase NBN satellite data allowances\u202fto 90 gigabytes a month and unmeter data between midnight and 4 pm, with an ambition to go beyond 100 gigabytes.&nbsp;<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Anthony Albanese said:<\/strong><br><br>\u201cThis is a comprehensive, targeted plan that will ensure better mobile coverage on roads, on farms and across regional communities, and better broadband too.\u201d\u00a0<br><br>\u201cThis is critical to modern agriculture and making sure Australian farms are as efficient and competitive as they can be.\u201d\u00a0<br><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Michelle Rowland said:<\/strong><br>\u202f\u202f<br>\u201cImproving regional connectivity is a top priority for\u202fLabor. This is why we have committed to a better plan for the NBN, and a smarter plan for expanding regional mobile coverage.\u201d\u00a0<br><br>\u201cWe will grow the economy by investing in productivity enhancing digital infrastructure, as well as improving quality of life for regional communities and road commuters through better mobile coverage.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Better mobile coverage on roads, as well as improved connectivity for regional communities and on farms, will lead an Albanese Labor Government\u2019s approach to upgrading regional telecommunications.&nbsp; Boosting coverage on roads and in regional communities&nbsp;\u202f&nbsp;A key element of Labor\u2019s Better Connectivity For Rural and Regional Australia plan will be&nbsp;the establishment of a $400 million fund &hellip; <a href=\"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/index.php\/2022\/04\/05\/major-connectivity-boost-for-roads-regional-communities-and-farms\/\" class=\"more-link\">Continue reading<span class=\"screen-reader-text\"> &#8220;Major Connectivity Boost for Roads, Regional Communities and Farms&#8221;<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-15959","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-aussie"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15959","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=15959"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15959\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":15960,"href":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15959\/revisions\/15960"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=15959"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=15959"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=15959"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}