RURAL and remote locations in Queensland will receive more mobile coverage after plans for 68 new or upgraded base stations were announced as part of the $385 million black spot program this week.
The program involves 500 base stations either built or improved in various remote locations nationally.
These will provide network coverage for roughly 3000 of the 6221 'black spot' locations nominated by remote Australians.
The base stations, 70 of which are run by Vodaphone and the rest by Telstra, aim to provide new handheld coverage to more than 68,000sq km of the country, as well as another 5700km of major transport routes.
Governments have invested $385 million into the national program, $54 million of which will help connect Queensland - a sum communications parliamentary secretary Paul Fletcher said "significantly exceeded expectations".
Science and Innovation Minister Leeanne Enoch said it was the most significant one-time increase in mobile network coverage to regional and remote Australia delivered by a single public funding program.
Besides 68 to be built in Queensland, the remaining stations will be built in NSW (144), Victoria (110), Western Australia (130), South Australia (11), Tasmania (31) and the Northern Territory (5).
Queensland locations include Yaraka in the Longreach region, Bucca in the Bundaberg region, Rannes in the Banana Shire, Forsayth in the Etheridge Shire, Julatten in the Mareeba Shire, Ubobo in the Boyne Valley and Dingo in the central highlands region.
Ms Enoch said coverage for remote areas was "critical", with "clear benefits for public safety, business, education, tourism and much more".
She highlighted the importance of coverage for remote communities during natural disasters. "It was a great concern earlier this year when Cyclone Marcia struck that some residents couldn't receive evacuation alerts or communicate properly with each other and the authorities," she said. "This program will help address those issues."
Federal MP Bob Katter also emphasised the importance of coverage in remote areas, and thanked those who put their cases forward. "Each blow we strike against the tyranny of distance is a strike for our freedom," he said.
The first of the base stations funded will be under way in 2015.
In a separate announcement, the federal government said it would invest a further $60 million into Round two of the program to target the remaining 3200 black spots.
The locations go through a selection process, based on nominations by the public, to which the telecommunication companies and government have also agreed.
