VICTORIA’S peak farmer group went to Canberra this week in a campaign to end the data drought damaging rural communities.
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Victorian Farmers Federation vice president Brett Hosking joined with representatives from 16 other groups in a Regional, Rural and Remote Communications Coalition to lobby federal politicians about bridging the digital divide separating city-dwellers from their country cousins.
“The VFF fields heaps of calls from farmers frustrated with their current level of service, so we’re taking action by bringing the issues all the way to Canberra,” Mr Hosking said.
The communications coalition met with 50 MPs to discuss issues ranging from mobile black spots and the Sky Muster satellite service to the Federal Government’s Universal Service Obligation, which requires telecommunications providers to deliver a basic level of service to all Australians. The lobbying comes after the Productivity Commission recommended the National Broadband Network as the main method for delivering basic service.