One of the key issues facing the Wimmera Southern Mallee is mobile and digital connectivity. The Wimmera Southern Mallee Regional Partnership is working to ensure the region has a comprehensive digital and telecommunications network, ensuring it’s a productive, competitive place to do business, and a healthy and safe place to live.
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Evidence shows a digital divide exists between regional and metropolitan Victorians. There is inequity in digital infrastructure, service quality and cost. This divide is already threatening the competitiveness and economic growth of WSM-based industry, and the liveability of the regional communities. The area is the most isolated in Victoria, however on a national scale is relatively populated with a considerable amount of diversified industries, including intensive and broadacre agriculture.
The region has a competitive advantage with climate, transport, water access and proximity to markets, however sub-standard telecommunications are already reducing productivity. Mobile phone service is patchy, as is fixed wireless NBN.
The future of the region’s agriculture and competitiveness will rely on high-speed, reliable internet access with large download capacity. In particular, requirements around data from automated machinery, intensive agriculture and remote office work require large download capacity, high speeds and reliability. Sky Muster is not suitable to meet the existing needs of many businesses operating in the region, let alone future requirements. The Wimmera Southern Mallee Regional Partnership has recognised that there are opportunities to improve the community access to this vital mobile and digital infrastructure.
It’s pleasing the Victorian government recently acknowledged this, and provided $45 million in the 2017-18 budget for the Connecting Regional Communities Program. In making the announcement, the government noted all nine regional partnerships, covering the whole of regional Victoria, had called for improvements to digital infrastructure. The Wimmera and Southern Mallee Partnership will work with the government as it rolls out this program here in Wimmera Southern Mallee.
The state government has announced further black spot funding for the region. Matching this investment would allow more businesses to access fixed wireless 4G, again relieving the burden on Sky Muster.
Government-funded tower infrastructure also allows for co-location, increasing competitiveness, and the inevitable rollout of 5G which is widely considered to be a key part of the solution of internet access for rural areas such as WSM. There is also scope to link into existing state government fibreoptic networks to improve connectivity where these networks are in place.
Allowing businesses to access NBN fixed wireless from the “grey zone” (outside the guaranteed service area) by installing booster aerials would also help with connectivity issues. Already, there are several options available to landholders and rural businesses such as mobile phone signal boosters and localised Wi-Fi networks that are cost effective for businesses yet consumers are unaware of their existence. Funding to allow for regionally based telecommunications education such as webinars, fact sheets is a cheap effective solution to the issue.
In early August, the Wimmera Southern Mallee Regional Partnership will host its second regional assembly. It will be looking to the community, business and agencies to think big and consider innovative solutions to issues including local infrastructure, transport, education, health, economic development, community and energy and the environment. It will also share what's been achieved over the past 12 months.
To register to attend the regional assembly – which will be held in Horsham frm 5.30-8.30pm on Wednesday, August 2 – visit engage.vic.gov.au/wimmera-southern-mallee