Optus Commitment to Regional Australia

Optus is committed to providing mobile coverage, competition, and choice to regional Australia. We believe that real investment in regional and remote telecommunications services is the only sustainable way to improve competition, strength, and breadth of coverage in regional Australia.


Our participation in the Mobile Black Spot Program and the Peri-Urban Mobile Program reaffirms Optus’ dedication to network investment in metropolitan, regional, holiday and remote locations across Australia. The Program builds on our existing and significant network expansion programs in regional Australia. Our network underpins everything we do, so that our customers can have access to reliable mobile coverage and high-quality internet.

A young woman holds a young boy who is standing in the back of a utility vehicle in a rural location.
A man with a beard checking his phone while leaning against his car parked on the side of a country road in a remote location.

About The Mobile Black Spot Program

The Mobile Black Spot Program (MBSP) is a Commonwealth Government initiative to improve and extend mobile phone coverage in regional and remote Australia. Under the MBSP program to date (Rounds 2 to 5A), In partnership with Commonwealth Government Optus has committed to deliver 245 base stations.

For more information on the Mobile Black Spot Program, see here.

About The Peri-Urban Mobile Program

As of March 2023, Optus has been awarded funding under Round 1 of PUMP (Peri-Urban Mobile Program) to deliver 22 sites and continually improve mobile coverage for the Australian community.

PUMP is a grants program that provides funding to improve mobile connectivity in bushfire priority areas along the edges of Australia's major cities. The program targets long standing mobile coverage and reception issues in the peri-urban fringes of Australia's major cities. Peri-urban fringe is where the bush meets the edges of the suburbs, creating natural disaster risks for those living and working in those areas.

PUMP complements MBSP in providing grant funding to mobile network operators and infrastructure providers to deploy new mobile phone infrastructure to address mobile reception and coverage issues in peri-urban areas.

To find out more about the PUMP program, see here.

For more information about the Optus mobile network, please see our coverage maps.

Rollout Schedule Of Mobile Black Spot Sites

Below is a list of our planned locations under the Federal Government’s Mobile Blackspot and our indicative rollout schedule.

The in-service time frames provided are the best estimates based on current progress. We will continue to update our forecast regularly as we progress with the sites.

Please note that all references to Q1 - Q4 are for the Australian calendar year.

Mobile Black Spot Sites

Rollout Schedule of Peri Urban Mobile Program Sites

Below is a list of our planned locations under the Federal Government’s PUMP Program and our indicative rollout schedule.

The in-service time frames provided are the best estimates based on current progress. We will continue to update our forecast regularly as we progress with the sites.

Please note that all references to Q1 - Q4 are for the Australian calendar year.

Peri-Urban Mobile Program Sites

Mobile Network Hardening Program

Optus has partnered with the Australian Government as part of the Mobile Network Hardening Program. Under Stage 1 of the Hardening Program, Optus will improve network resilience by upgrading battery backup power to 12 hours or more at 62 Optus mobile network base stations on sites built under Round 2 of the Mobile Blackspot Program.

Mobile Network Hardening Stage 2 is an expansion of the Mobile Network Hardening Program Stage 1 where Optus will further extend network resilience on 323 Optus mobile network base stations across Australia by

  • 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; and
  • Physical hardening of sites against bushfire damage.
     

To find out more about the MNHP program see here.


Stage 1
Stage 2

Note: The areas and scheduled timeframes illustrated are only indicative only and are subject to change.

Optus´ investment in expanding mobile coverage to regional and remote Australia was made possible by the Federal Government’s Mobile Black Spot Program. We thank the Federal Government and all State Governments for investing in such a crucial program which will ensure those living in remote and regional areas have access to reliable mobile coverage.

We would also like to thank those local governments, businesses and communities that we have met with for their dedication and support for this Program.

State Mobile Blackspot Programs

In addition to the Federal Government’s Mobile Blackspot Program, Optus has also partnered with a number of State Governments to co-invest in new mobile in even more locations.

To find out more about the Program being run in your State, follow the links below.

Register a Blackspot?

Optus welcomes feedback on locations that may be eligible under future blackspot programs. Your feedback will be provided to our network planning teams for future considerations.  If you wish to provide the feedback, please take the time to complete the form

(*) Required Field

Please provide the Blackspot address details if you selected "No Outdoor coverage/No Indoor coverage" above.

Please complete the following section if you selected "No In vehicle/train coverage" in the above Blackspot Description.

Want To Know More?

Interested in learning more about the Mobile Black Spot Program?