"Since the scheme's inception in 2002, funding of more than AU$8 million has supported the purchase of over 7,000 phones by Australians living or working in rural, regional and remote areas," federal communications minister Senator Helen Coonan said in a statement issued this morning.
The Satellite Phone Subsidy Scheme will continue to operate with funding from the AU$29.5 million Mobile Connect program, part of the wider AU$3.1 billion Connect Australia package.
The statement said some of the satellite phone scheme's guidelines would change on July 1 following a window for public comment on new guidelines released today.
