The department is seeking stakeholder feedback on the draft grant opportunity guidelines for Round 2 of the Mobile Network Hardening Program (the Program).
Why we want your input
We want to make sure that industry, community and government stakeholders are able to have their say on the Draft Grant Opportunity Guidelines (the Guidelines) before they are finalised, and a call for applications is made.How you can voice your opinion
You can provide feedback on the Guidelines by uploading your submission or emailing us at MBSP@infrastructure.gov.au by 5 pm AEST on Tuesday 30 May 2023.What will be the outcome of this consultation?
Your submissions will help us finalise the Guidelines as well as ensure that the Program’s objectives are met. Round 2 of the Program is expected to open for applications in the coming months, following consideration of feedback received during the consultation process.The Issue
Through the October 2022 Federal Budget, the Australian Government committed $100 million (GST exclusive) to improving communications resilience, including funding for further rounds of the Mobile Network Hardening Program, to reduce the risks of service outages and improve restoration times during natural disasters.
Round 2 of the Program has up to $15 million (GST exclusive) of funding available and its key objectives is to co-fund Mobile Network Operators (MNOs), Mobile Network Infrastructure Providers (MNIPs), or Network Management Providers (NMPs), which are contracted by an MNO, to assist not only with managing and maintaining its network, but also to upgrade mobile network telecommunications infrastructure (Resilience Upgrade) to:
- help prevent outages in the event of a Natural Disaster
- strengthen the resilience of telecommunications facilities to allow them to operate for longer during bushfires and other Natural Disasters and
- enable the rapid restoration of services following an outage.
The deadline to share any feedback regarding Draft Grant Opportunity Guidelines is by 5 pm AEST Tuesday 30 May 2023.
Relevant documentation
The Guidelines for Round 2 of the Mobile Network Hardening Program include relevant information concerning:
- What funding is available?
- Who is eligible to apply for funding?
- How the funding will be allocated under the Program?
- How to apply for funding?
- How grant applications are considered and selected?
- How Grantees are notified and receive grant payments?
- How Grantees will be monitored and evaluated?
- What are the responsibilities and expectations in relation to the opportunity?
Participate
18 Apr 2023 12:01 AEST
30 May 2023 17:00 AEST
Closed
We invite you to to tell us your views on this topic.
Please include:
- contact name
- organisation name, if applicable
- contact details, including telephone number, postal and email addresses
- confirmation whether or not your submission can be made public—published—or kept confidential.
All submissions to be made public need to meet the Digital Service Standard for accessibility. Any submission that does not meet this standard may be modified before being made public.
If your submission is to be made public, please ensure you do not include any personal information that you don't want to be published.
If your submission is confidential, please ensure each page of the submission is marked as confidential.
Please click on the 'Have your say now' button below to upload your submission.
This consultation is closed.
Australian Privacy Principle 5 Notice
Mobile Network Hardening Program Round 2 Draft Grant Opportunity Guidelines
The Department of Infrastructure, Transport, Regional Development, Communications and the Arts (the department) is collecting information for the purposes of developing the Program Guidelines for Round 2 of the Mobile Network Hardening Program, in accordance with the Privacy Act 1988.
The department will use this information to inform consideration of issues associated with Round 2 of the Mobile Network Hardening Program and will store this information securely. It may be used by the department to make further contact with you about the review.
The department will not disclose information to third parties, except in the circumstances outlined below.
Submissions, in part or full, including the name of the author may be published on the department's website unless the submission is confidential. Confidential submissions (including the author's name) will not be published. Private addresses and contact details will not be published or disclosed to any third parties unless required by law.
Submissions will only be treated as confidential if they are expressly stated to be confidential. Automatically generated confidentiality statements or disclaimers appended to an email do not suffice for this purpose. If you wish you make a confidential submission, you should indicate this by ensuring your submission is marked confidential.
Confidential submissions will be kept securely and will only be disclosed in the following circumstances:
- in response to a request by a Commonwealth Minister
- where required by a House or a Committee of the Parliament of the Commonwealth of Australia
- where required by law.
The department may also disclose confidential submissions within the Commonwealth of Australia, including with other Commonwealth agencies, where necessary in the public interest.
Please note that in order to protect the personal privacy of individuals in accordance with the Privacy Act any submissions containing sensitive information, personal information or information which may reasonably be used to identify a person or group of people may not be published, even if not marked as confidential.
The department’s privacy policy contains information regarding complaint handling processes and how to access and/or seek correction of personal information held by the department. The Privacy Officer can be contacted on (02) 6274 6495 or by email: privacy@infrastructure.gov.au