Telecommunications
The delivery of efficient and reliable telecommunications services is of great benefit to rural communities. It is not only a fundamental health and safety requirement, but it also allows for active participation in the knowledge economy.
Fast and reliable data transfer has become increasingly important as government, both central and local, banks and other service and supply businesses rely on electronic means to deal with farm businesses. In the modern environment, fast and reliable broadband access is vital if rural communities are to realise their opportunities in the global marketplace.
Federated Farmers wants telecommunications services supplied to rural consumers to be reliable and at reasonable cost to the consumer. The reality for rural and remote users is that the current state of the network is poor. This is why Federated Farmers has been a passionate supporter of the government's Rural Broadband Initiative (RBI). We will continue to work with the relevant parties to ensure that the RBI objectives are met, and that the rural community can begin to close the digital divide that separates them and urban New Zealanders.
Federated Farmers has pushed hard for an appropriate level of Government funding for the RBI. We succeeded in increasing the funding from the original $48 million to $300 million, but this is still significantly less on a per head basis than the $1.5 billion funding for the Ultra Fast Broadband Initiative targeted at the 75 percent of New Zealanders defined as urban.
Federated Farmers wants
- Appropriate stakeholder involvement, including Federated Farmers, in the Rural Broadband Initiative rollout to ensure that the specifi ed targets are met
- On-going government investment in telecommunications infrastructure, to meet the needs of the rural population.
Spokesperson
Federated Farmers Telecommunications spokesperson is national board member Anders Crofoot, you can contact him at acrofoot@fedfarm.org.nz.
