The Federated Farmers, New Zealand’s leading rural sector organisation representing 17,000 farmers and rural families, said this move is critical for wireless broadband and will provide a pathway to next generation technologies.
Don Nicolson, Federated Farmers President said the confirmation of the NZ$252 million (US$201 million) increase for rural broadband it has petitioned for will finally generate results for rural New Zealand.
“Broadband is vital for all farmers with increasing moves towards precision farming, e-commerce and e-Government. We may not welcome some of the compliance outcomes but fast reliable broadband is necessary for us to comply,” he said.
The government has negotiated earlier this year with two telecom giants to deliver high speed broadband services under its Rural Broadband Initiative (RBI) to connect 97 per cent of schools to fibre, enabling speeds of at least 100 Mbps, with the remaining three per cent to achieve speeds of at least 10 Mbps.
The RBI is expected to cost around NZ$300million (US$ 240 million), and it is being funded by a NZ$48 million (US$38 million) direct government grant, plus NZ$252 million (US$201 million) from a new Telecommunications Development Levy being set up as part of the accompanying Telecommunications Service Obligations reforms.
The initiative aims to benefit 1.1 million New Zealanders.
Nicolson said the Federated Farmers has been working with the telecommunications sector on standard form easements to speed up fibre rollout across farms.
He added the organisation will continue talking with government to get a better understanding of the agreement and the timelines involved.
Farmers need to learn a lot more about peak download and upload speeds, coverage and pricing, Nicolson said.
“Another key aspect is future proofing farmers and provincial New Zealand so that we can all take full advantage of the digital economy.”
“Broadband isn’t just about reducing isolation but enabling economic development to take root in the provinces rather than in just the cities. At least today, we’re one step closer,” Nicolson stressed.
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Autor(en)/Author(s): Pia Rufino
Quelle/Source: futureGov, 27.04.2011
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