THE federal government has asked the Productivity Commission to investigate options for a national mobile broadband network for emergency services.
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The commission now has nine months to undertake a cost-benefit analysis on developing a network that could be used across police, ambulance, fire and other public safety services, and across all states, by 2020.
The move has been applauded by Indi MP Cathy McGowan, who is optimistic it will be the first step in improving mobile communications — broadband or otherwise — for all regional and rural Australians and not just emergency services.
It comes after Upper Murray residents reported two separate instances in the past two weeks of being unable to reach emergency services from the scene of road crashes, due to mobile blackspots.
The commission’s report, is in response to the work undertaken since June 2011 by the Council of Australian Governments Public Safety Mobile Broadband Steering Committee — formed largely to investigate the need for better communications in disasters like bushfire.
Kancoona near Myrtleford, for example, was left isolated during the Black Saturday blazes, with up to 140 properties having no communication and CFA pagers not working.
The commission will examine the relative costs, benefits and risks associated with a dedicated mobile broadband network; the cost-effectiveness of public and private inputs; and the government’s review of the broader spectrum management framework.
Emergency services have previously sought to use part of the 700MHz spectrum, which can be used for 4G coverage.
An issues paper will be released next month, and the commission will consult stakeholders in developing its recommendations, with the final report due in December.
Ms McGowan welcomed the report as proof the government was “acting on the concerns of communities of regional Australia”, but said she would push for any network to be introduced sooner than 2020.
She believed a network for emergency services was “a cover-all” to ensure public safety, and confident it was not a replacement for improving mobile phone or broadband services for the general public.
A spokesman for Farrer MP Sussan Ley said it showed the government was taking the concerns of emergency authorities seriously.