Residents and visitors to Western Australia’s North-West will experience improved mobile coverage and broadband telecommunications with a  a series of new Telstra Next G® network mobile base stations being installed across the region.

Telstra Country Wide Area General Manager for WA North Tony Carmichael said locals and tourists would have more widespread access to advanced voice and data services with 20 new base stations throughout WA, including 12 in the North West region, now on line and with more to come.

“The previously unserviced area between Port Hedland and Fitzroy Crossing now has mobile coverage for the first time, following the commissioning of these base stations.  This means customers will now be able to use mobile phones, tablets and other wireless devices between towns and enjoy a fast mobile broadband service,” Mr Carmichael said.

“These towers are also an important addition for emergency services in the Pilbara. Functioning mobile coverage can assist in emergencies, particularly in getting messages out to remote parts of the state prone to bushfires and other disasters. Nonetheless, mobile phone networks should not be relied upon as the sole means of emergency communications.

“The towers will make it possible for people travelling on the rural transport corridors to experience increased coverage for their phones and wireless devices and provide more convenient communication channels between communities and towns.”

The towers are part of 113 new sites being built by Telstra as part of the Regional Mobile Communication Project (RMCP), aimed at delivering additional mobile communication to regional and remote Western Australia.

The RMCP is funded by the Western Australian Government’s Royalties for Regions Program and is administered by the Western Australian Department of Commerce with the assistance of the Department of Regional Development and Lands.

In partnership with Telstra, the Project will deliver $106 million in value to the state and is expected to take three years to complete. Over this period, Telstra will increase its geographic coverage by about 22 per cent in Western Australia - from 430,000 km2 to more than 525,000 km2.

“Projects like this are helping those in rural towns to experience Telstra’s Next G® network. With computers, laptops, tablets and mobiles, customers can connect to Australia’s largest and fastest national mobile network,” Mr Carmichael said.

To find out more about the RMCP project visit the WA Department of Commerce web site at http://www.commerce.wa.gov.au/ScienceInnovation/.