Posties enlisted to help map Australia's worst mobile black spot areas

It is hoped that the posties will capture data that will better determine true gaps in mobile coverage and network capacity in places where people are actually using mobiles phones but finding flaws in the service.

The audit will begin later this month and involve more than 30 Australia Post vehicles drive testing over 180,000 kilometres of regional and rural roads for the next three years.

The roll-out follows a successful pilot program covering three roads and three fixed locations in each state and territory earlier this year that provided enough "useful insights" into the extent and quality of mobile coverage to plough on with the full audit.

There will also be extended static testing conducted with the mobile measuring devices tobe placed in 77 post offices across Australia, it is hoped this will help capture any seasonal variations in mobile coverage.

Communications Minister Michelle Rowland said the audit will provide important national data to help target future investment.

It is hoped the results will better reflect the on-the-ground experiences of mobile services beyond that already provided by Mobile Network Operator coverage maps.

"Engaging Australia Post in the audit, and leveraging its networks, will help to ensure we get a comprehensive picture of mobile coverage across the country," she said.

"The Albanese Government understands that rural, regional and remote communities value reliable mobile coverage, every Australian deserves access to reliable mobile coverage regardless of where they live."

The roads and locations were identified in consultation with state and territory government agencies and also in consultation with representative groups.

Keysight autonomous probe field units will be used because they allow for unattended, remote-controlled measurements and will monitor when the devices are plugged in and connected to power and when vehicles are travelling or idling.

The vehicles and offices will be using Samsung S23 phones.

Coverage and performance will be measured across Optus, Telstra and TPG, and also cover 3G, while it remains available, 4G and 5G services.

Accenture Australia, who will compliment the information collected from the audit with crowd-sourced data from over 165,000 mobile users nationwide, has been contracted to undertake the Audit on behalf of the Government.

It will also use its own vehicles for roads that Australia Post does not drive down.

Priority postal offices in areas of greatest need include Balranald, Bingara and Narrandera in New South Wales, Bright, Mallacoota, Portland and Robinvale in Victoria, and Bowen, Weipa and Cunnamulla in Queensland.

While in Western Australia, priority sites includes Carnarvon, Geraldton and Ravensthorpe, Marree and Renmark in South Australia and Queenstown, Huonville and Bicheno in Tasmania and Katherine, Yuendumu and Tennant Creek in the Northern Territory.

As pilot and main audit data become available, the coverage maps will be updated and results will be available on the Department's website.

The government's $1.1 billion Better Connectivity Plan is currently funding new of the Mobile Black Spot Program.

Meanwhile, the shutdown of Australia's 3G mobile network has been pushed back again, with both Telstra and Optus now planning to commence closing their old phone service on October 28.

The 3G spectrum is being closed to free up signal and bandwidth for the more powerful 4G and 5G networks.

It will impact 3G and some 4G capable devices, including those which are not VolTE or 700 megahertz (band 28) enabled, or handsets hardwired to use 3G to call triple zero.