Broadband is very much the in word these days, although it’s out for many farmers.

Broadband is that new technology which ensures that city folk can quickly buy bargains on trade-me and suss out the latest gossip in the media. In reality it is for most business people a technology that is essential to run their business, be it large or small. It works fine in major cities, but the further out into the country you get, the harder it is to hook into broadband.

Federated Farmers has been leading the charge to get the government and telcos to speed-up the roll out of this technology. The Federation recognises that there are challenges with distance and cost but these have to be overcome.

Farms are businesses, just like the ones in the Queen St in Auckland and Featherston St in Wellington who rely heavily on fast, efficient and reliable telecommunications. In many ways, farmers are at a huge disadvantage because many of them live in isolated places, miles away from the cities. They use the Internet for banking, ordering supplies, food, checking market information and general usage including ‘trade me’. 

Reliable communications are vital in times of adverse weather events, which can see country roads closed for days on end by slips and washed out bridges.

You don’t have to live very far from a major town to find that your dial-up speed is very low. That means downloading even the most basic web site takes time. You can also live close to towns and find that cell phone coverage is also problematic and the same can apply to television coverage.

Federated Farmers is an active partner in the rural broadband users group, which is working with central and local government and user groups to make more progress in the roll-out of broadband to rural areas.

Forty years ago the party line was a tenuous link that farmers had with the outside world and at the time it was deemed a necessity. In today’s technology driven society, broadband is just as much a necessity for rural people as it is for city folk.