2018 Telecommunications Review Submission

Livestock SA producer members continue to express concern and frustration about regional telecommunications. While there have been some improvements since the 2015 Review, with the rollout of NBN in some areas and continuous efforts to remove some mobile blackspots, much more still needs to be done. As acknowledged in the Regional Telecommunications Review 2018 Issues Paper, telecommunications services are vital to participate in modern society. This includes farming businesses and farming families as well as their local rural communities. For livestock producers this includes marketing of livestock and accessing real time information to guide business decisions. Recently Livestock SA conducted a general survey of its members, and of the 360 respondents 55% indicated reliable internet and phone coverage were significant factors affecting their profitability.