Public Safety Mobile Broadband

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Public Safety Mobile Broadband

A white label with the words Public Safety Mobile Broadband.

What is the Public Safety Mobile Broadband (PSMB)?

A National PSMB capability will provide public safety agency personnel with prioritised, fast, safe and secure data video and voice communications. This capability will improve the safety, effectiveness and coordination of our front-line responders, in turn helping to protect the people, property and businesses of Australia. 

The PSMB will offer public safety agencies (PSAs) fast, safe, and secure video, data and voice communications. It will also provide quick access to data and images in live situations. This will allow: 

  • real-time analytics 
  • situational awareness, and 
  • cross-agency and cross-border communication. 

Why is the PSMB important?

The PSMB will be the most significant uplift in communications capability for Australian PSAs in decades. 

The current communication capabilities of Australian Public Safety Agencies (PSAs) including fire, ambulance, police, emergency services and other government agencies, largely depend on existing Land Mobile Radio (LMR) networks with limited data services. The current LMR offers mission-critical voice services, but does not provide mission-critical data and video features required by PSAs. With the continuing rise in number and intensity of disasters and other national emergencies, this requirement is increasingly critical. PSAs require a broader range and diversity of technologies to support the important work they do.

The PSMB capability will strengthen Australia's emergency preparedness. It will help to ensure PSAs are equipped with modern technology and digital connectivity to improve operational outcomes, effectiveness and coordination during emergencies and disasters. It will provide PSA personnel with fast, safe and secure data, images, video and voice communications enabling situational awareness, detailed analytics and cross-border communications in live situations, emergencies and critical incidents. The PSMB capability will significantly enhance safety for PSA personnel and assist them in achieving their mission of keeping the communities of Australia safe and resilient.

Public Safety Operations examples

The use cases included here are representative of a number of public safety agencies (PSAs) across Australia. These use cases are generic. Their initial purpose was to provide context for the PSMB Approach to Market Request for Information (RFI) phase to illustrate the critical nature of the work undertaken by Public Safety Agencies. Each of these has been endorsed by jurisdictional representatives of the PSAs, for release as part of the RFI artefacts. This set of use cases for PSMB is not exhaustive. The Taskforce will continue to add other use cases to highlight the benefits of the National PSMB capability. They are for contextual and illustrative purposes only.

How is the Australian Government supporting the PSMB?

The Public Safety Mobile Broadband (PSMB) Strategic Review (PDF 1.64MB) was conducted in 2022.

In response, the Australian Government invested $10.1 million over the 2023-24 and 2024-25 financial years. They used this funding to set up and fund the PSMB Taskforce.

In the 2025-26 Federal Budget, the Australian Government has committed a further $5.4 million, allowing the PSMB Taskforce to continue to collaborate with jurisdictions to complete the Discovery Phase and move into the Delivery Phase (subject to Government agreement). 

What is the PSMB Taskforce?

The Taskforce was established by the Australian Government in August 2023 to deliver on the recommendations of the 2022 Strategic Review. This has culminated in the development of a National Strategic Business for consideration by the Australian Government and jurisdictions, with a focus on the Discovery Phase of the PSMB Solution. 

Part of this work is in developing the framework that drives the delivery of a national PSMB capability. This includes establishing an Inter-Governmental Agreement and working in collaboration with states and territories to ensure national support for the PSMB. 

We lead the Taskforce. It is supported by: 

  • The Department of Infrastructure, Transport, Regional Development, Communications and the Arts, and 
  • State and territory government agencies. 

Industry Engagement

The Taskforce has engaged with the telecommunications industry to understand how industry can support the delivery of a national PSMB capability.

Watch our video to learn more.

The PSMB Taskforce is re-engaging with industry organisations following the successful Request for Information (RFI) in 2024. Engagement will commence with organisations that participated in the 2024 PSMB RFI process. 

The PSMB Taskforce will reach out to industry over the coming months. 

Request for Information

A Request for Information (RFI) for Australia's PSMB was released on AusTender on 12 July 2024 and closed on 6 September 2024.

The RFI was the first phase of the PSMB Taskforce’s market approach.

The RFI sought to:

  • find out what technical and service offerings are available in the market
  • understand the costs of creating and running a national PSMB network
  • prequalify vendors for procurement in the 2025-26 financial year.

If approved by Government to proceed, this procurement will be the second phase of the market approach. It will focus on the technology, coverage, infrastructure, goods and services, required to deliver and operate a PSMB network.

To support businesses interested in taking part in the RFI we ran two virtual industry briefings.

Watch the recording from the briefings below.

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