Farmers sick of dipping out on internet access

By RICHARD WOOD

Farmers may need high-speed internet access in the future but are not prepared to pay much more to get it. What they really want right now is a reliable, inexpensive dial-up service - similar to what most city people have.

That is the conclusion internet provider ihug draws from a nationwide email survey of farmers last month and a Government-funded postal survey in September of Otago and Southland farmers.

Of the 425 farmers who responded to the Otago and Southland survey, threequarters were unhappy with existing internet service levels.

The most-sought-after service improvement was uninterrupted access. The most frequent comments were that internet services were extremely slow, impairing a farm's ability to obtain up-to-date information and resources.

Communications Minister Paul Swain said it was important to be careful with surveys, as people tended to think in terms of what they knew, not the future.

"The content coming down the broadband pipe is going to explode, no question about that. It will exponentially take off," he said.

The Otago-Southland survey revealed that, compared with other sectors, relatively few farms had websites, there was a lack of interest in buying new computers, and reluctance to spend more in order to receive enhanced internet services.

It found the internet was mostly used for farm and business management, general browsing and online research.

The most important resources were weather forecasts, pricing information and expert farming and horticulture advice.

Other findings showed that:81 per cent of respondents had a computer.

74 per cent were connected to the internet.

5 per cent had a personal or farm web page.

Farmers sent an average of 18 emails a week.

Most spent less than 20 hours a week on the net.

Most usage was between 8pm and midnight.

On average, farmers paid $23.50 monthly for internet access

23 per cent would pay more for better internet service.

Ihug also concluded from its survey that rural users were frustrated with their slow and unreliable dial-up. Two-thirds said it was slow.

The company decided there was a need for dial-up speeds comparable to those available in the cities (56Kb/s).

The survey indicated almost all users wanted high-speed connections, but few were willing to pay more than $33 a month for it.

Email, web browsing, and downloading software were by far the biggest uses of the net. Only 7 per cent of respondents frequently sent files bigger than 1Mb.

Other findings showed that:Farmers spent 55 hours online each month.

59 per cent use the internet for business, 95 per cent for personal use, and 71 per cent for education or research.