• Labor will boost NBN speeds, deliver better mobile coverage on roads, and improve connectivity for regional communities and on farms.
  
  
• Australia has fallen well behind similar countries on broadband speeds – and this is having a big impact in regional, rural and remote areas.
  
  
• Labor will deliver faster broadband, expand fibre connections and improve safety and productivity by boosting mobile coverage.

Why do we need this?

Families need reliable, fast connectivity for school and work. Small businesses and entrepreneurs need it to stay competitive. Regional communities need it for all those reasons, and as a matter of safety.

Yet as it stands, Australia is ranked 65^th in the world for broadband speeds, is lagging developed nations, and regional mobile and NBN connectivity remains in need of significant improvement.

This is why the 2021 Regional Telecommunications Review found that a step change in the ongoing demand for data warrants a step change in the policies and programs which support regional connectivity.

The details

An Albanese Labor Government will:

• Boost NBN speeds on NBN Fixed wireless – $480 million to provide all 755,000 fixed-wireless users with access to speeds of between 100 to 250 megabits per second.

• Increase NBN Satellite data allowances – boosting satellite data allowances to 90 gigabytes per month, and unmetering Skymuster usage between midnight and 4 pm.

• Expand world-class fibre access in the regions – invest to expand full-fibre access to a further 660,000 homes and businesses in the regions currently relying on copper wire.

• Conduct a national audit of mobile coverage – Labor will undertake an independent audit of mobile coverage to better identify black spots and guide investment priorities. 

• Boost mobile coverage on roads – by investing $400 million to provide multi-carrier mobile coverage on roads with coverage black spots, and in regional communities.

• Solve local connectivity problems – $200 million towards place-based regional telecommunications projects, such as mobile or targeted fibre, to meet community needs.

• Boosting on farm connectivity – $30 million program to enable more farmers to extend connectivity in their fields and take advantage of connected machinery and sensor technology.

Under an Albanese Labor Government, 80 per cent of the 3.7 million homes and businesses in regional and remote Australia will have access to speeds of 100 megabits per second or more by late 2025.

Put simply, regional Australians will have better broadband and mobile coverage under Labor.