Rural and remote communities across North Queensland will soon have better mobile coverage after the latest round of the $60 million federal government's North Queensland Telecommunications and Energy Improvement Grants.
Telstra successfully won the major share of projects including construction of mobile base stations, satellite small cells and battery backup solutions.
Telstra regional general manager Rachel Cliffe said it would vastly improve their existing 4G mobile coverage in the region.
"Cloncurry, Flinders, Carpentaria and McKinlay shires are just some of the communities to benefit from these projects that will provide improved connectivity for residents, farmers and tourists, and will be particularly important during natural disaster events like floods," she said.
McKinlay Shire mayor Philip Curr was delighted funding had been awarded for two new mobile base stations at Flers and Balootha.
"We have been continually advocating for improved telecommunications across the Shire, as good reliable connectivity is essential for modern primary production, both for cattle and cropping and for our increasing number of tourists," he said.
"As the 2019 devastating floods showed, without dependable telecommunications the shire and our people are vulnerable to such disasters."
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