ADEQUATE telecommunications for rural and remote Australians remains as far away as ever, according to a group of western Victorian farmers.
A delegation of growers from the Kaniva district, in the western Wimmera, met with Victorian agriculture minister Jaala Pulford to discuss drought proofing ideas; all agreed better telecommunications networks were critical. “We have a farm 70km north of Kaniva, and if my husband is up there working he is out of range from the moment he gets beyond the reach of the Kaniva tower in the morning until he gets home,” Sharon Madden said. “Not only are there the safety concerns, but in these fast moving days of grain marketing, we are also missing out on critical information.
Steven Hobbs, who hosted the meeting at his property 20km north of Kaniva, said mobile reception in his area was patchy to non-existent. “Those things thrown up as examples of modern farming, such as making business calls or looking at information online while we’re on the tractor, that isn’t possible here.” He urged both State and Federal Governments to intervene to assist rural and remote Australians gain access to acceptable quality telecommunications. “I think we have seen a clear sign from the providers that we are not the focus for them, which from their commercial perspective probably makes sense as the numbers are in urban areas.”
People at the meeting said generally they had better results with wireless than with satellite services, but download allowances were a big concern for farmers. Jonathan Dyer, a local farmer with a background in information technology, said there was a frustrating lack of functionality in telecommunications, even where high speed services could be provided. “With the local ADSL connection in Kaniva, you’ve got access to a 70 megabyte a minute connection, but people have packages with only 2 gigabytes of data a month. “It’s like getting the keys to a Ferrari, but only having access to five litres of fuel.”
Victorian Farmers Federation (VFF) president Peter Tuohey said a roll-out of next generation satellite services may improve the technology for remote farmers.
