Wherever possible, mobile carriers strive to find a co-location opportunity for deploying a mobile phone base station. In fact across Australia, around a third of all base stations are co-located and this has occurred largely in response to calls from the community for fewer towers.

 

While co-location is often preferred, it does not always deliver the best outcome for every community. Some communities prefer a few carefully integrated low-impact facilities in their area. Also, in some instances, it may be preferable to build a new base station to reduce the amount of power required to operate the mobile phone system. However, given a carrier's network requirements and following engagement with local councils and communities, carriers can better determine the preferred deployment outcome for an area.

 

One of the MCF's key functions is to better facilitate coordination in deployment and network operations and accordingly, the MCF are continually enhancing policies that will help streamline the co-location process.