Finding collaborative ways to fund improvements to mobile phone infrastructure services across regional and remote Australia will be the focus of the public hearings in Adelaide, Alice Springs and Perth this week.
The House Communications and the Arts Committee will also hear evidence from state and territory governments, Indigenous communities and First Nations media, business chambers, councils, health services, fire and emergency services and community groups on the impacts of unreliable mobile coverage. The hearings are investigating how to improve the reliability in South Australia, Northern Territory and Western Australia for its parliamentary inquiry into regional mobile carrier infrastructure.
Committee Chair, Mr Brian Mitchell MP, outlined the majority of mobile infrastructure was not co-located, especially in regional areas. The Committee wants to better understand why the rates of co-location for Australia’s major mobile providers dramatically decline as they move from urban to regional and remote areas. The Committee will be seeking views on whether co-investment is the best tool to encourage multiple telecommunications providers in regional areas to invest in and share ‘multi-carrier’ mobile towers to improve the range and reliability of their services.
Public hearing in Adelaide
Witnesses: SA Department for Energy and Mining, SA Forest Products Association, Grain Producers SA, Outback Communities Authority, District Council of Mount Remarkable, emergency services and community groups
Time and date: 9:30am to 1:00pm ACST 15 May
Location: Balcony Room, House of Assembly, Parliament of South Australia
Public hearing in Alice Springs
Witnesses: First Nations Media Australia, Indigenous Community Television, Central Desert Regional Council, Alice Springs Town Council, and community groups
Time and date: 8:30am to 12:15pm ACST 16 May
Location: Spinifex Room, Double Tree by Hilton Hotel, 82 Barrett Drive
Public hearing in Perth
Witnesses: WA Department of Primary Industries and Regional Development, WA Local Government Association, AHA WA, Bunbury business chamber, WA Country Health Service, WA Grains Group and Fortescue Metals Group
Time and date: 9:30am to 1:00pm AWST 17 May
Location: CPO, Exchange Tower, 2 The Esplanade
The inquiry’s terms of reference and information about the Committee may be found on the Committee’s webpage.