Connecting Victoria

PUCV is continuing its advocacy to secure more government investment in digital connectivity infrastructure in peri urban areas.

With more and more people moving to peri urban municipalities and the growing number of people who work from home, investment has not kept up with demand.

In peri urban areas, this means many communities now have ‘grey spots’, areas of incomplete service or coverage. 

It’s a situation that worsens during the holiday season when the population of our member municipalities almost doubles to around 400,000.

The Federal Government runs a number of funding programs designed to improve the telecommunications network, while the State Government has also invested in regional infrastructure and co-funded projects.

Under the Connecting Victoria program, more than 900 mobile and broadband projects will be undertaken in regional Victoria.

Of that total, 163 are located within PUCV municipalities. Twelve of those projects are designed to improve broadband connectivity and 151 to improve mobile service.

The work includes improving existing infrastructure, installing new infrastructure, installing battery back-ups in case of power outages, upgrading mobile towers for 5G use and providing free public wifi.

Forty-two projects are yet to be finished: eight in Bass Coast, nine in Baw Baw, three in Golden Plains, 11 in Moorabool and 12 in Surf Coast.

More information about progress on individual projects and their location can be found here.

A telecommunications tower in the historic township of Walhalla in

Baw Baw Shire.