
Today, in this section, we will discuss about some of the Australian state funded and federal funded grants that are aimed at improving the existing “infrastructure of communication” and “signal strength,” in local and regional Australia. Below mentioned are a few of them along with their eligibility criteria.
One of the state funded grants provides local organisations, businesses in regional Australia and local government authorities with a matching fund with $50 M in the prize pool. The program focuses to build and upgrade mobile stations, connect businesses to global markets and help schools in connecting to learning resources.
Eligible Organizations are:
As mentioned earlier,
- local organisations within the state offering the grant
- organisations from regional areas of the state providing the grant
- local government authorities
The program incorporates the following:
- aims to deliver up to 183 new or upgraded mobile base stations in the state providing the grant
- aims to enable digital connectivity in the regions that is comparable to the quality of services available in metropolitan areas of the state
This is an annual program.

Another fund, provided by an Australian state government, aims to improve business and agricultural productivity through the provisioning of business-grade connectivity. It focuses on expanding digital connectivity in regional areas of the state that will create jobs and boost economic growth. The program is a part of the Infrastructure Fund, which is created to improve innovative agricultural telecommunications in the regional areas of the state, and to provide increased productivity and commercial benefits for the agricultural communities.
Eligibility Criteria:
To be eligible for grants under the program, an applicant
- propose services in areas that are not currently being served
- not propose services in areas already proposed by other projects
- prove that at least 10 ten agribusinesses are served in a proposal
- hold a valid carrier licence under the telecommunications act 1997 (cth)
It has a total funding pool of $2 M and is available annually.
One Federal government funded grant aims to invest in telecommunications infrastructure to improve mobile coverage across Australia. There are various ‘Rounds’ under this program, with each Round focusing particular areas and sectors. The recently concluded ‘Round 5’ focus was on important community centres, such as medical facilities, schools and economic hubs. This program has no min or max grant limits. All applicants should prove that they can co-contribute to the project. A total funding pool of $380 million is available. This includes $160 million in new funding added recently.
Eligibility Criteria:
To be eligible for this grant the business must be:
- a national Mobile Network Operator (MNO) or a Mobile Network Infrastructure Provider (MNIP)
- An MNO is a company other than a Mobile Network Infrastructure Provider, that supplies a public mobile telecommunications
- An MNIP is a company other than an MNO, that provides communications infrastructure in Australia or overseas, including the installation and operation of the infrastructure which can be used by one or more MNOs
This program is available in multiple rounds and runs almost all year, every year.
To know more about Telecommunications Sector grants, and their eligibility criteria, please speak to one of our advisors.