Landcorp's broadband farmers' godsend

Landcorp Farming has installed high-speed satellite broadband at 77 of its farm stations, releasing them from the shackles of dial-up internet access.

Auckland-based internet service provider Iconz is providing farmers, who are often in isolated locations, with connection speeds of up to two megabits a second. The technology is capable of eight megabits a second.

Iconz chief operating officer Sean Weekes said he heard Landcorp was looking at a wide-scale broadband deployment and called to make a pitch.

The structure and value of the deal is commercially sensitive.

Iconz list the standard cost of satellite equipment on their website as $2000 plus GST, installation costs of up to $1595 plus GST and monthly fees starting from $99 for a 1GB data allocation.

The challenge was convincing rural customers the company could deliver on its promises, Weekes said.

"Ninety per cent of customers have been promised something from a broadband service before and it hasn't been able to be delivered."

Weekes said that, apart from a lightning strike on the company's satellite dishes, the main surprise was how technologically adept farmers proved.

High-speed broadband would open a world of digital benefits to farmers that was often taken for granted in urban areas, he said

Kit Till, station manager at Dale Farm in Te Anau, said his high-speed connection to the world is changing the way he does his job.

He downloads tools to help manage the farm, files reports online to Landcorp offices, communicates with other farmers and can email digital images while talking to the recipient on the phone.