The $30 million Active Sharing Partnership grant opportunity seeks to establish collaborative partnerships between the telecommunications sector to design and deliver active sharing mobile solutions that will improve mobile coverage in regional NSW.
Key information
- Status: Closed
- Grant amount: Up to $30,000,000
- Application opened: 28 September 2022
- Application closed: 14 November 2022, 5:00 pm
Program objective
The Mobile Coverage project aims to significantly improve mobile coverage in regional NSW where people live, work and play through transformative investment in mobile phone infrastructure and emerging technologies. The Active Sharing Partnership is a key component of the Mobile Coverage project.
A total of $30 million is available under the Active Sharing Partnership grant opportunity for the construction and operation of active sharing mobile solutions that will provide new and improved mobile coverage to regional NSW.
The objectives of the Active Sharing Partnership opportunity are to:
- demonstrate the suitability of different types of active sharing solutions in delivering coverage and connectivity outcomes for regional NSW
- encourage competition in the regional telecommunications market to provide consumers with greater quality, affordability, and choice in their telecommunication provider
- identify fit-for purpose commercial and delivery models for active sharing mobile solutions that can be implemented at scale in future government funding programs
- deliver new and improved mobile coverage to regional NSW locations where people live, work and play using active sharing mobile solutions.
The use of active sharing mobile solutions in regional NSW has the potential to accelerate digital connectivity, enhance competition by lowering capital and operating costs, and deliver more choice and better mobile coverage to regional communities.
Grant amounts and co-contribution
There is no maximum grant amount for capital infrastructure costs associated with building or installing proposed active sharing mobile solutions. Grant amounts for integration costs and access charges associated with proposed active sharing mobile solutions are capped as per the Grant Guidelines.
Successful applicants will be required to make cash co-contributions towards eligible project expenditure.
Applicants’ cash contributions will be expected to increase based on the relative commercial viability of their proposed active sharing mobile solution. In determining a proposed solution’s commercial viability the department will consider:
- the location’s level of existing coverage
- proximity to power, backhaul and access roads
- population density
- traffic volumes and land use.
Active sharing mobile solutions determined to be of low commercial viability may attract higher levels of grant funding.
This program is administered by Department of Regional NSW.
Eligibility
Applications must meet the below eligibility criteria to be considered for grant funding. In limited circumstances, the eligibility criteria may be waived by the department.
Who can apply
Applications must be submitted by project teams consisting of one access provider and one or more access seekers.
- Access providers must be carriers or eligible companies as defined by the Telecommunications Act 1997 (Cth)
- Access seekers must be mobile network operators (MNOs).
Each of the access seekers and access providers must:
- have participated in Phase 1 of the Active Sharing Partnership, a 15-week design phase that ran from May to August 2022
- be registered for GST
- hold or commit to obtaining public liability insurance of not less than $20 million per occurrence, or equivalent or better self-insurance.
Eligible projects for the grant
Projects must propose active sharing mobile solutions that:
- use active infrastructure sharing to deliver mobile services that meet the minimum requirements outlined in the grant guidelines
- provide new mobile coverage or overlapping mobile coverage to an eligible location in regional NSW
- be ready for service by December 2025, unless otherwise agreed by the department
- not be a location identified in forward build network expansion or upgrade plans, including builds commenced and/or planned in the next three (3) financial years at the date of contract award.
Eligible locations for projects
Areas of regional NSW where:
- there is no existing mobile coverage provided by any MNO, or
- existing mobile coverage is provided by only one MNO
- any other locations in regional NSW identified by the department in the preferred list released confidentially to registered grant applicants.
What the funding can be used for
Grant funding can be requested for:
- capital infrastructure costs associated with proposed solutions’ delivery and operation, including funding for materials and equipment, labour and services and upfront capital costs related to the installation and deployment of backhaul
- cost associated with the establishment of access seekers’ active sharing networks, including funding for changes and/or upgrades to operating and billing support systems
- costs associated with the access seeker accessing the proposed solution to provide a retail mobile service
- for proposed solutions in natural disaster prone areas, funding for additional resiliency measures such as auxiliary backup power and redundant backhaul to improve the reliability of services in emergency situations.
How to register
Organisation registrations must be submitted in the template provided by the department via the SmartyGrants Portal by the closing date and time.
To register your interest in applying for funding:
- populate the SmartyGrants registration form providing your organisation’s details, contact person and active sharing preferences
- upload the following attachments prior to submitting your registration:
- your organisation’s most recent handheld 4G and 5G coverage maps
- a geospatial layer outlining predicted and planned handheld mobile coverage for all base stations in your organisation’s 2022-23 to 2025-26 forward build network expansion or upgrade plans
- a map of your organisation’s existing or planned infrastructure assets that could be leveraged/co-located on to deliver the proposed active sharing mobile solution
- a signed Non-Disclosure Agreement, in the form provided by the Department.
Geo-spatial information such as maps must be provided in either MapInfo TAB, ESRI Shape or GML format, and must meet the requirements outlined in the Grant Guidelines.
Important Dates
Organisations must register their interest to participate in the grant opportunity on the SmartyGrants portal by 5:00pm (AEDST) 12 October 2022.
Registered organisations are encouraged to discuss and plan co-development and co-funding opportunities with other registered organisations prior to submitting an application for funding.
Applications close at 5:00pm (AEDST) on Monday 14 November 2022.
Most recent recipients
What your application needs to include
For more information about the $30 million Active Sharing Partnership grant opportunity, including key dates, eligibility and assessment criteria, please see the
File
Mobile Active Sharing Partnership Grant Guidelines (PDF 2.5MB)
In applying for funding, applicants must:
- populate the SmartyGrants application form providing all information outlined in the sample grant application form
- upload the following attachments prior to submitting their application:
- a fully populated
File
Active Sharing Partnership Data Sheet (XLSX 254.41KB) in the template provided by the department - consolidated improved handheld coverage maps identifying each proposed active sharing mobile solution’s predicted coverage zone
- if applicable, alternative coverage modelling assumptions and/or other evidence to verify the level of existing handheld coverage within a proposed area
- for each project team member:
- audited financial statements for three continuous years starting from the latest available year, or other evidence of financial viability if audited financial statements are not available
- evidence of public liability insurance of not less than $20 million per occurrence or equivalent or better self-insurance to the satisfaction of the department
- a signed
File
Applicant Declaration Access Provider form (PDF 112.69KB) or File
Applicant Declaration Access Seeker form (PDF 105.29KB) in the template provided by the department.
- a fully populated
any other information identified by the department in the approved application and assessment tool templates.
All electronic files should be provided in an appropriate Microsoft compatible format; and Geo-spatial information such as maps must be provided in either MapInfo TAB, ESRI Shape or GML format.
Proposed active sharing mobile solutions will be assessed against the following assessment criterion. The amount of detail and supporting evidence provided in your application should be relative to the project’s size and complexity, and the grant amount requested.
Cluster solutions comprising of two or more (to a maximum of fifteen) active sharing mobile solutions providing coverage to similar geographic locations will be considered as a whole.
- Coverage benefit
- Merit of the proposed solution
- Social and economic outcomes
- Deliverability
- Alignment to government priorities
- Affordability
More information on each assessment criterion is available in the grant guideline.
File
Active Sharing grant opportunity Appendix A: Minimum requirements (PDF 62.71KB)File
Active Sharing Partnership grant opportunity Regional NSW Local Government Areas (PDF 83.06KB)File
Active Sharing Partnership Confidentiality Deed (DOCX 3.61MB)File
Active Sharing Partnership Statement of Non Compliance (DOCX 284.45KB)File
Active Sharing Partnership Access Provider Sample Funding Deed (PDF 747.46KB)- Frequently Asked Questions
After the application is submitted
Successful applications will be decided by: The Department of Regional NSW
The department will coordinate the assessment process.
Assessment of the applications will be completed in four steps:
1. Eligibility assessment - the department will assess each applications compliance against the eligibility criteria set out in the Grant Guidelines. Final eligibility determinations will be made at the discretion of the Assessment Panel, with the advice from the department.
2. Criteria assessment - the department will assess all projects deemed eligible against the assessment criteria outlined in the Grant Guidelines. During the assessment, the department may ask applicants to provide additional information to assist the assessment process. Advice may also be sought by the department from other government agencies, or subject matter experts.
3. Assessment Panel review and recommendation - an Assessment Panel will review the outcomes of the criteria assessment and consider the merits of each application against the criteria to determine if the proposed application should be considered for funding.
Final eligibility and suitability determinations will be made at the discretion of the Assessment Panel, with advice and recommendations from the department. To aid with assessment the Assessment Panel may request advice from other industry experts, internal or external to the NSW Government.
4. Approval - the Assessment Panel’s advice and recommendations will be provided to the relevant delegate in the department for consideration and approval.
The relevant delegate will review the availability of grant funds and the Assessment Panel’s recommendations before deciding which (if any) grants to approve. The relevant delegate may take other factors into account that may make an application ineligible for funding, including issues that could cause reputational or other risks to the NSW Government.
Notification of funding outcomes
Applicants will be notified in writing of the outcome from December 2022 or as soon as possible after a grant is approved, at the NSW Government’s discretion. Applicants can request a feedback information session for any unsuccessful application.
Support and contact
The Regional Digital Connectivity team are available to answer questions about the grant opportunity. Please contact mcp.grants@regional.nsw.gov.au for more information.
Please note, if any information provided in response to an applicant's enquiry has applicability to all applicants, and is not general public knowledge, an update to the online Frequently Asked Questions will be made. The department is not able to assist applicants with the preparation of their application.