Vodafone Australia has improved its mobile services in the country by introducing mobile coverage to a wind farm in the New England region. On Monday, Vodafone announced the activation of its first cell tower in White Rock Wind Farm near Glen Innes, in the New England region of New South Wales. The mobile telecommunication provider’s move came after Telstra initially switched on its first three mobile cell towers.

According to, the activated cell tower will provide mobile coverage to seven areas without mobile signals, Vodafone CEO Inaki Berroeta said, as quoted by ZDNet. The construction of the tower will deliver reliable coverage and a choice of provider for its locals, for the first time, he added.

On a national scale, Vodafone is committed to building or upgrading 70 base stations across the country as part of its mobile blackspot program. As an initial step, Vodafone is set to introduce 17 new sites in New England, which will gain the region 28 new sites in total.

Funds used for the construction of the towers were generated through the contribution of local companies such as Goldwind, the wind turbine manufacturer, and Inverell Shire council through a $20,000 contribution.

“Local businesses were involved in the construction of the mobile tower, and will continue to benefit once the wind farm construction stage commences," John Titchen said. The Goldwind managing director also stated that the mobile tower was a great example of White Rock Wind Farm in providing benefits to its locals.

According to Berroeta, the mobile blackspot program is a significant gesture on providing enhanced mobile coverage to customers in the regional area. It would also provide them choices in terms of mobile provider which results in better and lower prices, he added.

“Vodafone said on Monday that it is investing $4.5 million in the New England area to increase mobile coverage under the mobile blackspot program,” ZDnet reported.

Mobile Black Spot Programme

The Mobile Black Spot Programme is Australia’s commitment to improve mobile phone coverage and competition in remote regions of the country. In the first round of the programme, a $100 million fund is set to upgrade or deliver almost 500 new mobile bases in identified areas in the country.

“A further $60 million has been committed by the Government for Round 2 of the programme, with funding to be available over two years from 1 July 2016,” according to the press statement.

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“The cost of lack of competition in the telco market across Australia is AU$3.1 billion each year. That's AU$3.1 billion which could be driving growth, but instead, it's threatening the government's worthy aspirations of a world-leading digital economy," Berroeta said.

By bringing in competition, the mobile service providers are encouraged to improve on their services to attract more customers. The same scenario happens even with mobile operators in other countries where increased competition calls for better services.

Vodafone India agrees, as it is set to roll out its 4G Services in Kerala. Ten cities in Kerala will benefit from the increased 4G signal after Airtel launched theirs. Vodafone India also announced the launch of its 4G device that allows the transmission of Wi-Fi signals to other devices.

Mobile market competition in India is especially unique with 12 mobile operators. However, reports of poor mobile signals have increased. To address this issue, the Indian government has announced a digital initiative on improving the country’s mobile network coverage through increased mobile infrastructure.

One mobile technology company answered the call on improving mobile network coverage with its Network Extender. 5BARz International (OTCQB: BARZ) introduced its revolutionary product to “Tier One” mobile operators in the country.

Its single, Plug-and-Play unit is a highly engineered device able to strengthen weak indoor mobile signal which results in high quality voice, data and video signal.

“We have a technology solution that never has been done before and has revolutionised the way telcos build out their networks and provide this much-needed, last-mile connectivity solution,” 5Barz CEO Daniel Bland said.

Vodafone Australia and India both have taken initial steps in improving their services through improved mobile technology. "Mobile technology has a big part to play in building a productive and truly national digital economy,” Berroeta said. “By optimising the use of next-generation mobility, we can leverage Australia's strengths in industries such as agriculture, education, transport, healthcare, and tourism.”

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