The Hodgman Liberal Government is committed to delivering enhanced mobile access for all Tasmanians, and ensuring that we can continue to showcase the best of our regional tourism experiences to the world.
We are delivering on our plan to expand mobile coverage on the Great Eastern Drive, between Binalong Bay and Buckland.
The Government will seek to collaborate with a mobile telecommunications provider, with Expressions of Interest to be advertised tomorrow as part of a two-stage Request for Tender process.
“The project aims to enhance mobile coverage to at least 95 per cent of the highway, providing better opportunities for communities, upgraded access for tourists and improved safety in general,” Liberal Member for Prosser Jane Howlett said.
“We have allocated $3.5 million of funding in this year’s State Budget, which will be used to improve coverage along the route and in Four Mile Creek, Falmouth and Coles Bay.”
Significant areas along the highway currently have little or negligible mobile coverage, and the project is also expected to eliminate notorious blackspots between Buckland and Orford.
“The Great Eastern Drive is not just a major transport route used by more than 33,000 vehicles every day, but is one of Tasmania’s iconic tourism experiences, and renowned for being one of the most dramatic and beautiful coastal drives in Australia,” Liberal Member for Lyons Rene Hidding said.
“Investments such as this will also help us to achieve our target to increase overnight visitor stays in regional areas by 70 per cent and increase visitor spending by 50 per cent by 2022.”
The Expression of Interest process will close on Monday July 16, 2018.