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The Victorian Government is continuing to improve the resilience of mobile phone towers statewide as the new bushfire season gets under way.
The state government says it finished 170 resilience upgrade projects to date.
The target is more than 1200 mobile towers and 150 broadband projects completed by 2026.
Government Services Minister Gabrielle Williams visited Mount Taylor in East Gippsland where a mobile tower site was recently upgraded. Work included fitting 12-hour battery-backups, installing generators, removing vegetation and installing heat-proof shields.
More than 60 such projects are planned for East Gippsland with more than half already completed, a government statement says.
Williams says government is working with telecommunications companies to improve reliability especially during emergencies.
“We have completed more than 75 per cent of our resilience projects pipeline so far with the rest to be delivered by 2026,” she says.
Federal Minister for Communications Michelle Rowland says they want to reduce the risk of outages but concedes no network is ever 100 per cent disaster-proof.
“This upgrade in East Gippsland will support community safety by helping to mitigate the impacts of service outages during natural disasters, and throughout the response and recovery phase,” she says.
MP for Eastern Victoria Tom Macintosh says the upgrade will ensure communities stay connected “when it matters most”.
SCHOOLS
Schools were also helped with their bushfire preparation with recent government grants to slash vegetation growth and reduce the risk of fire.
Minister for Education Ben Carroll said 332 public schools across 348 campuses shared in more than $8.4 million for essential maintenance work under the Bushfire Preparedness (Vegetation) Program (BPVP).
The program was introduced in 2018 to help schools undertake essential vegetation clearance around school buildings prior to the bushfire season and in accordance with municipal fire danger periods.
Schools that receive funds are listed on the Bushfire at Risk Register (BARR) with work aimed at mitigating the bushfire risk.
