'Connectivity' for modern age

Looking back over the last 100 years in agriculture, a number of advancements have accelerated farm productivity. These include the introduction of diesel-powered farm equipment, the construction of irrigation schemes, and the development of higher-yielding crop and animal genetics.

As innovators, agricultural producers are always on the lookout for the next game changer that will unlock greater productivity from their business. In the next decade, the use of new technologies on farm has huge potential for providing the next step change in productivity.

Technologies such as virtual herd management, AI-controlled irrigation, and other advancements in precision agriculture are just a few examples of tools that producers can use in their operations.

For producers to take advantage of these tools, they must have access to reliable and affordable phone and data services. In this federal election, we are advocating for the federal government to guarantee nationwide access to these services as a Universal Service Obligation. Furthermore, these services should be available at the same price and quality, regardless of where individuals live or work.

The federal government introduced the current Universal Service Obligation during the privatisation of Telstra in the late 1990s to ensure that service provision continued to meet community needs and was protected under private ownership. Under the obligation, standard telephone services were required to be available on request to premises in Australia and payphones reasonably available nationally.

Jump forward three decades, and “connectivity” today has a new meaning. Mobile phone coverage for both voice and data and the national broadband network has completely revolutionised how we work. Or at least they do when you can get a signal…

We believe that the time is right for the universal service obligations in Australia to be reviewed and updated, particularly to ensure those living and working in our regional communities are not left behind.

Under the newly rolled out National Broadband Network connection options for regional and CBD connections do not provide universal access to the same level of service for the same price. For example, a customer living in Launceston can access a 'fibre to the premise' connection for $95 a month, this service provides typical evening download speeds of 100mbps and upload speeds of 17mbs. 

Meanwhile, a customer living 20 minutes away in a regional setting can only access fixed wireless services, paying the same $95 a month will only be able to access typical evening download speeds of 68mbs and upload speeds of 7mbs… This hardly seems fair.

To make matters worse the Launceston resident also has the option of accessing typical download speeds of 815mbs and upload speeds of 40mbs for $125 a month. No faster data option exists for regional customers, and in the event of a power failure, the fixed wireless service will stop working within six hours, completely preventing a business in a regional area from operating due to a lack of connectivity.

To enable the next shift in agricultural productivity, we must re-think what a universal service obligation means in 2025. As a starting point, this should ensure that those Australians working hard in regional communities around Australia have the same quality of service for no more cost than those governing the Nation in Canberra.