The Australian Government recognises innovative telecommunications solutions are important to help people stay connected during natural disasters.
The Telecommunications Disaster Resilience Innovation (TDRI) program promotes the development of new technologies to provide solutions for telecommunications disaster resilience, particularly in our regional, remote and First Nations communities. It forms part of the Australian Government's Better Connectivity Plan for Regional and Rural Australia.
Projects
Funding has been awarded to 33 projects under the TDRI program's 2 streams:
- 18 projects received funding under the Power Resilience Round. This round funded solutions that strengthen the resilience of telecommunications against the impacts of power outages—the leading cause of telecommunications outages during natural disasters.
| Lead Organisation | Project Title |
|---|---|
| Essential Energy | Power for Towers: Deployable power solutions to support telecommunications in regional and rural NSW and parts of Queensland |
| NBN Co Limited (nbn) | Power Back up for the nbn Fixed Wireless site Cherbourg (QLD)—Smart Modular Power Solution |
| NBN Co Limited (nbn) | Power Back up for the nbn Fixed Wireless site Lake Conjola (NSW)— Smart Modular Power Solution |
| NBN Co Limited (nbn) | Power Back up for the nbn Fixed Wireless site Mourilyan Harbour (QLD) —Hybrid Power Cube |
| NBN Co Limited (nbn) | Power Back up for the nbn Fixed Wireless sites Mt Baimbridge (VIC)— Hybrid Power Cube |
| NBN Co Limited (nbn) | Power Back up for the nbn Fixed Wireless sites Acacia Hills (TAS)— Hybrid Power Cube |
| NBN Co Limited (nbn) | Power Back up for the nbn Fixed Wireless sites Sackville (NSW)— Hybrid Power Cube |
| NBN Co Limited (nbn) | Power Back up for the nbn Fixed Wireless sites Eton (QLD)—Hybrid Power Cube |
| NBN Co Limited (nbn) | Power Back up for the nbn Fixed Wireless sites Smoky Bay (SA)—Hybrid Power Cube |
| NBN Co Limited (nbn) | Power Back up for the nbn Fixed Wireless sites Allendale East (SA)— Hybrid Power Cube |
| Blue Diamond Machinery Pty Ltd | Rapid deployable "plug & play" hybrid off grid power solutions |
| AusNet Electricity Services | NBN Telecommunication Tower SAPS |
| AARNet Pty Ltd | Wind power, battery, solar installation, and upgrade project |
| GreenHy2 Ltd | Telstra Mobile Network Telecommunication Tower 100% Renewable Energy Hydrogen-Fuelled SAPS |
| CiFi Pty Ltd | CiFi Helios: Hybrid Power Site Resiliency |
| Vocus | Emergency portable generators for regional and remote fibre backbone resilience |
| Indara | Regional Power Protection |
| AARNet Pty Ltd | Deployable Generators and CEV solutions for WA, NSW, VIC |
- 15 projects received funding under the Innovation Round. This round funded innovative telecommunications solutions to improve the resiliency, redundancy and availability of telecommunications during and/or following a natural disaster.
| Lead Organisation | Project Title |
|---|---|
| NBN Co Limited (nbn) | Wireless Mast Trailers with Emergency WI-FI connectivity—Prototypes |
| NBN Co Limited (nbn) | Digital Power Outage Notification via API |
| CRISP Wireless Pty Ltd | CRISP Wireless Emergency Response Deployable Telecommunications Hub |
| Zetifi | ZetiMesh—power-efficient, long-range, public Wi-Fi for at-risk and disaster impacted communities. |
| Deakin University | A Persistent and Resilient Disaster Short-Messaging System |
| CiFi Pty Ltd | Archipelago: Redefining Emergency Telecommunications with Innovative 'Islands of Connectivity' |
| Telstra | Development of transmission backup solution using OneWeb Leo Satellite. |
| Pivotel Satellite Pty Ltd | Rapidly Deployable Wide-Area WiFI Network (with Independent Satellite and Power capability) |
| Roobuck Pty Ltd | Multi-purpose LoRa-based meshed network for disaster resilient telecommunications |
| TPG Telecom | A Digital Twin for Enhancing Disaster Resilience of Mobile Networks |
| Vocus | Starlink vehicle connectivity for disaster preparedness, response, and recovery |
| Vocus | D.R.O.N.E. (Disaster Response Operational Network Environment) deployable 5G network |
| Vocus | Deployable Controlled Environmental Vaults (CEVs) for backbone fibre network resilience |
| Benelec | Australian Satellite Communication Terminal |
| Virtual TAS | Disaster SMART Tasmania Telecommunications |
Funding was awarded following a competitive merit-based grants process.
Funded projects will improve the preparedness of Australia's telecommunications networks against increasing climate risks, including against an anticipated increase in the frequency and severity of natural disasters in Australia.