Farmers told to sign up for connectivity help

Federated Farmers is urging its members struggling with poor and unreliable internet connectivity to sign up for government assistance under the Remote Users Scheme announced today.

"We know from the responses we get from our annual rural connectivity survey that this announcement will be appreciated by a significant number of farmers and growers," Federated Farmers telecommunications spokesperson Richard McIntyre says.

"They are pulling their hair out trying to run a business with bad internet."

According to Feds’ own data the assistance on offer could help at least 1 in 3 farmers who have to live with download speeds of less than 10mbps.

This means trading off time for family internet use, like children doing homework, with Mum or Dad doing banking, online business compliance and ordering supplies.

"Feds has been working with the government on this since January and it is a great comfort to us that this scheme appears to offer genuine relief.

"We look forward to working with government to make sure everyone eligible gets a chance to make the most of the assistance," he says.

ENDS

For more information contact:  Richard McIntyre, 021 143 1588
OR:
Leigh Catley | GM Communications, Federated Farmers
Email: [email protected], Mobile: +64 (0)27 241 4350