THE internet is becoming increasingly important to agriculture. But is it being delivered to its full potential to country people?
In WA, more and more rural communities are beginning to feel the divide as people living in the city experience better internet services and faster internet speeds.
To alleviate this growing concern the Australian government is rolling out a new broadband network called the National Broadband Network (NBN) which aims to be finished by 2015.
It plans to change the way WA rural communities use the internet and how agriculture communicates with the rest of the world.
With work already underway in WA, the hope is to close the divide between the city and rural communities and offer the bush faster more comparable internet speeds.
NBN Broadband applications engineer Sean Casey said for many farmers the internet was part of everyday life.
"We're already seeing good examples of farmers increasing their use of the internet and we need to meet this demand," Mr Casey said.
"We have to remember that farms are businesses and they use the internet and broadband like any business does.
"There is a real need for farmers to communicate with their customers, as well as make the most of facilities that increase productivity, whether it is information about weather, spraying rates or to find out market intelligence such as grain prices.
"With broadband and better tools we can shorten the time it takes to make these important business decisions.
"With a good connection these people will be able to use the same business tools as people in the city.
"The NBN will offer fixed wireless and satellite broadband speeds of 12 megabits a second which is considerably faster than dial-up internet."
While this is considerably quicker than the regular 48 kilobits a second speeds experienced by most dial-up internet, it doesn't compare to people in regional centres and cities who will be able to receive speeds of up to 100 megabits a second.
Although many argue that 2015 is too long to wait to receive an improved internet service, Mr Casey points out that for some it will be even sooner.
"We have an interim satellite service available today, we will deliver and install the product today," Mr Casey said.
"Our aim is to reach 100 per cent of the country, 93pc of people will be able to connect through fibre optic cable and the remaining 7pc will be able to connect either by fixed wireless or by satellite.
"By offloading the majority of people on to fixed wireless and fibre optic connection we hope to offer an improved service to those using satellite internet."
Quairading farmer Robyn Richards is an administrative assistant at the Quairading Community Recourse and Cultural Arts Centre which offers internet services for much of the community and was not so convinced about the reach of the NBN.
"If we didn't have these services like the community resource and cultural arts centre I don't know what people would do," Ms Richards said.
"We have satellite at home but it's not with the NBN.
"Satellite speeds are certainly affected by the weather conditions, so what we get may be different to what's promised.
"We rely on the internet quite a lot, from information to banking and even weather."
With the broadband rollout already underway, the biggest challenge NBN product development head Jim Hassell saw was managing the expectations of communities who wanted the NBN.
"The key question we hear is not why we need the NBN but when am I going to get it," Mr Hassell said.
"A crucial task for 2012 will be to educate and inform Australians about the principles that dictate the rollout.
"We're under no illusions; this is a complex project not just in size and scale but because it is reshaping the telecommunications landscape in Australia.
"That will have huge implications for the way we live and work and help Australia compete in an increasingly online world."
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