Mobile Network Hardening Program

telecommunications tower

The Mobile Network Hardening Program is an Australian Government initiative funding upgrades to improve the resilience of Australia's mobile network telecommunications infrastructure in regional and peri-urban Australia to:

  • prevent outages during a natural disaster;
  • strengthen the resilience of telecommunications facilities to allow them to operate for longer during natural disasters; and
  • support the rapid restoration of services following an outage.

Funding for the Program was provided in the Better Connectivity Plan for Regional and Rural Australia, which was announced in the 2022–23 Budget.

Round 3

Round 3 of the Mobile Network Hardening Program (MNHP) closed for applications on 20 December 2024.

Applications are being assessed against the published Grant Opportunity Guidelines which are available on GrantConnect.

The Government is providing up to $20 million (GST exclusive) for Round 3, which will fund mobile telecommunications Resilience Upgrades in areas impacted by, or at risk of, Natural Disasters in:

  • regional and remote Australia, and
  • the peri-urban fringe of 19 capital and major regional cities.

Round 3 will be delivered in two streams:

  • a $10 million (GST exclusive) ‘Regional and Remote Australia’ stream for projects that deliver Resilience Upgrades in regional, remote and very remote Australia, including First Nations communities; and
  • a $10 million (GST exclusive) ‘Peri-Urban Fringe’ stream for projects that deliver Resilience Upgrades in the peri-urban fringe of 19 capital and major regional cities (consistent with Round 2 of the Peri-Urban Mobile Program).

Eligible areas for the two streams are shown on the Round 3 - Eligibility Map. Industry applicants were encouraged to consider proposed projects and locations on the Project Noticeboard for Round 3.

Round 2

Under Round 2 of the Mobile Network Hardening Program, the Australian Government is providing $14.2 million (GST exclusive) in grant funding for 386 projects to strengthen the resilience of regional telecommunications infrastructure, across regional Australia.

Grant funding is being provided to:

  • CiFi to improve back-up power capacity and strengthen network resilience on Christmas Island and Norfolk Island
  • Optus to install new generators and improve transmission resilience in clusters of connected base stations to reduce single points of failure
  • Telstra to uplift battery back-up power reserves at sites in remote Australia, providing continuity of service during outages and other emergencies, and
  • Indara for 2 Disaster Recovery Skids for deployment across regional NSW, Victoria and Tasmania to restore mobile services during and after a natural disaster.

See the full list of projects being funded—Mobile Network Hardening Program—Round 2 funded sites.

Yarramalong generator upgrade

As announced during the 2022 Federal Election, the Australian Government has committed up to $140,000 in funding to improve mobile network resilience in the community of Yarramalong, NSW.

The funding will contribute towards the cost of deploying a permanent, on-site generator at the Telstra mobile base station in Yarramalong. This will improve the resilience of Telstra mobile services for the community of Yarramalong in the event of power outages (including during or after natural disasters), supporting public safety communications and access to essential digital services.

In order to meet Commonwealth grant requirements and ensure a value for money outcome, Telstra has been invited to submit a proposal to deliver the upgrade to its Yarramalong base station. On 1 November 2023, targeted ad-hoc Grant Opportunity Guidelines were released to Telstra. This process was unsuccessful in funding a solution that could deliver the intended outcomes due to unforeseen complexities with the mobile network at the Yarramalong base station. The department has reviewed and revised the Grant Opportunity Guidelines to clarify the requirements, and eligibility of potential supporting work, to ensure the required resilience uplift can be achieved. On 1 May 2024, the revised Guidelines were released to Telstra.

Following an assessment of the proposal against the revised Guidelines, the department will provide a recommendation to the decision-maker. It is expected the outcome will be announced in early 2025.

Round 1

Round 1 of the Mobile Network Hardening Program is providing $23.5 million (GST inclusive) in grant funding to Optus, Telstra and TPG across two stages to deliver approximately 1,000 projects to strengthen the resilience of regional telecommunications infrastructure.

The first stage is funding the enhancement of the battery backup power at 467 base stations (XLS: 28 KB) funded under the first two rounds of the Government's Mobile Black Spot Program. These upgrades will increase backup operation at these base stations to at least 12 hours.

The second stage is funding the delivery of over 532 resilience upgrades at mobile base station sites across Australia. These upgrades comprise:

  • the deployment of new portable and permanent generators to supply additional back-up power during power outages;
  • upgrading battery systems to increase back-up power capacity;
  • adding battery extension devices to enhance existing back-up power capacity at key sites within mobile networks;
  • improving transmission resilience within regional mobile network clusters to reduce single points of network failure; and
  • physical hardening of sites against bushfire damage.

As at 30 June 2024, 91 per cent of Round 1 projects have been completed, with the remaining sites scheduled to be completed by late 2024/early 2025.