KEY POINTS:
Lobby group Tuanz's push to identify and promote a viable business case for a "fibre-to-the-farm" network is commendable.
The whole country will benefit from a broadband-connected rural community and as Tuanz points out, a bit of Kiwi ingenuity and a working bee approach to string fibre cables over existing power lines will give us a decent network at cut-price rates.
However, for those who don't want to wait for the fibre to reach their front paddock, there are a number of alternative and affordable internet access options available.
Satellite broadband services are certainly getting cheaper. An example is BayCity Communications, which has this month been promoting satellite packages starting from $49.95 plus GST a month plus a $149 installation fee.
Its previous entry-level plan cost $89 plus a $499 installation charge.
BayCity says the price drop has been helped by positive negotiations with its satellite supplier Thaicom.
Be warned, however, satellite broadband may not be for everyone.
When Interrupt wrote on this topic last month, reader Tony Herstell emailed to suggest some users may find the satellite option doesn't meet their particular requirements.
"Boys, particularly, like to game, and in a lot of cases it is them that drive the need to have broadband," he wrote.
"The lag in sending a signal into space and getting it back is simply too long for decent real-time gaming."
So it looks like the serious gamers may be stuck in the cities until we get those fibre cables into the backblocks.
