Farmers think Internet is too slow

FEDERATED FARMERS, New Zealand's farmers' union, said more than a half of their members can't connect to the net and more than three quarters think it is too slow.

The Union said that one in six can get speeds of 14.6kbps and only half were doing better than this. It is because they are still on dial-up rather than them trying to plug it into a kiwi fruit, or the microwave, or not having enough "rams" in their machines, the Federated Farmers insists.

The Union says most of those reporting "faster" speeds were experiencing 20-30kbps, with those reaching more than 40kbps being "the happy ones".

The main problem for the farmers is that NZ is doing reasonably well with its e-government initiatives and Federated Farmers says 14.4kbps is not enough to bank on the internet or deal with Inland Revenue online.

Federated Farmers is proposing a review of the Telecommunications Act to make sure that its members in rural areas are not shut out of the digital revolution.

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