Mobile Network Hardening Program

Mobile Tower under a blue sky

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
  • 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.

Mapping tool

Our interactive mapping tool lets you search for projects funded under the MNHP in your area.

Information on the map is updated quarterly and as the program reaches major milestones, such as new funding outcomes.

Perth Hills Round

We are providing $1.2 million (GST exclusive) for the targeted Perth Hills Round to upgrade battery back-up power to at least 20 hours and install Automatic Transfer Switches (ATS) at up to 23 mobile telecommunications infrastructure sites in the Perth Hills region of Western Australia.

A map of areas eligible for funding under the Perth Hills Round is available on the MNHP Perth Hills Round map page.

The Perth Hills Round opened for applications on Wednesday 29 April 2026, with Grant Opportunity Guidelines, Application Form and supporting documents available on GrantConnect. Applications for co-funding are open to Mobile Network Operators and Mobile Network Infrastructure Providers.

Applications must be lodged by 5:00pm AEST, Wednesday 10 June 2026.

Round 3

We are providing $9.8 million (GST exclusive) for 303 projects under Round 3 of the Mobile Network Hardening Program to strengthen the resilience of mobile network telecommunications infrastructure.

Grant funding is supporting projects in areas at risk of, or impacted by, natural disasters, and is being delivered in 2 streams:

  • $7.5 million is being provided for 245 projects in the Regional and Remote Australia Stream (located in regional, remote and very remote Australia, including First Nations communities)
  • $2.3 million for 58 projects in the Peri-Urban Fringe Stream (located in the peri-urban fringe of 19 capital and major regional cities).

Grant funding is being provided to:

  • Optus to uplift battery capacity, install permanent generators, improve transmission resilience in clusters of connected base stations to reduce single points of failure, and harden sites to increase protection against natural disasters
  • Telstra to uplift battery capacity, including installing supplementary Automatic Transfer Units at a number of sites to mitigate reliance on specialist technicians when restoring power at affected sites
  • Indara for site hardening measures to enhance the resilience of the physical infrastructure against natural disasters
  • Shoalhaven City Council for a permanent generator to extend the operation time of a communication tower during power outages.

The full list of projects being funded is available on the Mobile Network Hardening Program—Round 3 funded sites page.

You can also view the MNHP Round 3 Grant Opportunity Guidelines. 

Round 2

We are providing $14.2 million (GST exclusive) for 386 projects under Round 2 of the Mobile Network Hardening Program to strengthen the resilience of telecommunications infrastructure in regional and remote 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
  • Indara for 2 Disaster Recovery Skids for deployment across regional NSW, Victoria and Tasmania to restore mobile services during and after a natural disaster.

You can view the full list of projects being funded on the Mobile Network Hardening Program—Round 2 funded sites page.

You can also view the MNHP Round Two Grant Opportunity Guidelines.

Yarramalong generator upgrade

We are providing $228,800 (GST inclusive) to Telstra to improve mobile network resilience in Yarramalong, New South Wales, which will increase connectivity during emergencies.

Grant funding is being provided to Telstra to install:

  • an on-site generator at its local exchange
  • an Automatic Transfer Unit at the Yarramalong base station, allowing the rapid connection of a portable generator to supplement the existing 12-hour battery back-up.

You can view the Grant Opportunity Guidelines on the 1 May 2024 Revised Ad-hoc Grant Opportunity Guidelines page.

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 2 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 2 rounds of the 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
  • physical hardening of sites against bushfire damage.

All Round 1 projects are now complete.