Farm internet service aiming to cover the countryside

By ADAM GIFFORD

Fonterra is asking its 17,000 farmer suppliers whether it should go ahead with an alliance with Telecom and Broadcast Communications to create an internet access network for rural New Zealand.

FonterraNet project manager Kris Nygren said a roadshow for the farmers would start in Whangarei on Monday and finish in Gore on March 13.

Fonterra had conducted an intensive "request for information" process over the past year, but most of the contenders had dropped by the wayside because they were not able to offer a national network.

"We have suppliers from Kaitaia to Gore," Nygren said. "We need something which ties them all together."

He said Fonterra was talking to the Government's Probe project team, which aimed to give all schools broadband internet access, and wanted to see how successful Probe was in connecting remote areas.

Probe has deliberately gone for a regional rather than a national approach to encourage more vendors to enter the field with new technologies rather than relying on the incumbents, which already have national communications networks.

A briefing document obtained by the Herald says FonterraNet will give farmers "always on" internet with a minimum access speed of 128 Kbps.

Telecom and Broadcast Communications are proposing a mix of technology to create the network.

About 15 per cent of farmers will be able to use Telecom's DSL (digital subscriber line) technology over copper lines, essentially the Jetstream product.

FonterraNet Wireless, which uses transmissions from Broadcast Communications towers, will cover about 62 per cent of farmers.

Some 13 per cent of farms, which are not in line of sight of a Broadcast Communications tower, will need FonterraNet Wireless II, which will require Broadcast Communications to put in extra wireless extension services to get the signal to them.

About 10 per cent of farms will be on a satellite service.

Costs will depend on which technology farmers use. The briefing document says about 80 per cent can expect to pay $80 a month or less.

They will also have to pay for wireless or DSL modems and installation. Telecom is offering FonterraNet subscribers a 20 per cent discount off national toll calls and calls to mobiles.

Because FonterraNet is a virtual private network, farmers will be able to use internet telephony to talk to the company or other FonterraNet users, avoiding toll charges.

A flat fee will cover unlimited surfing on the FonterraNet private network, including Fonterra's Fencepost.com information and e-commerce portal, and 500MB worth of monthly free downloads from the worldwide web.