Member for Whitlam Stephen Jones has called on a revision of the Mobile Black Spot Program after eight Highlands areas were revealed to have been left out of the program.
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The release of the Productivity Commission draft report into the Telecommunications Universal Service Obligation highlighted reported black spots in NSW.
Highlands areas in the Whitlam electorate identified as mobile black spot areas are Berrima, Braemar, Burradoo, Fitzroy Falls, Macquarie Pass, Robertson and Willow Vale
Mr Jones said the report highlighted that the program had serious flaws.
“In the seat of Whitlam, none of the 16 identified mobile black spots were included in either rounds of the Mobile Black Spot Program,” he said.
“This is hard to understand when, for example, Macquarie Pass is a hazardous drive that features many car crashes, and drivers need to be able to contact emergency services.”
Mr Jones said more than 80 per cent of areas included in the program were in Liberal or National electorates.
“There is a pattern of behaviour here that puts party politics above community need,” he said.
The Productivity Commission outlined the following amendments for the program:
- more closely target locations where significant additional mobile coverage is likely to benefit mobile customers
- revise infrastructure sharing requirements to be consistent with the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission’s findings in the ongoing Domestic Mobile Roaming Declaration Inquiry
- prioritise areas for funding based on community input — rather than on nominations from Members of Parliament.
More information can be found at https://www.communications.gov.au/what-we-do/phone/mobile-services-and-coverage/mobile-black-spot-program.
