Victorian Government and mobile carriers Telstra, Optus and Vodafone will fix the mobile blackspots along the state’s five busiest regional rail corridors.
The AUD 18 million (USD 13.5 million) regional rail connectivity project will significantly improve mobile coverage and connectivity for commuters along the Geelong, Ballarat, Bendigo, Traralgon and Seymour rail lines, which see more than 15.5 million passenger trips annually.
As part of the solution Victoria will be the first state in Australia to implement in-train technology used to boost the signal from mobile towers outside the rail carriage to devices used inside.
Work has already begun to pilot the installation of mobile reception repeaters in VLocity trains, which is designed to boost in-train coverage from less than 50 per cent to almost full network coverage. If successful, the repeaters will be rolled out on the entire VLocity fleet in 2018.
Passengers will begin to experience improved mobile coverage from the end of this year, with the construction of up to 35 new mobile towers commencing after the pilot process and set to be completed in 2018.
“This Australian-first project is a massive win for commuters on our five busiest regional rail corridors – no matter which network they use, they will see improvements,” Minister for Small Business, Innovation and Trade Philip Dalidakis said.
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