A $6.3 million McGowan Government investment will deliver high-speed broadband to 600 farmers and residents across WA's grain growing regions under Round 3 of the Digital Farm program.
Five projects will deliver enterprise-grade broadband to the Shires of Esperance, Kukerin, Koorda, Mount Marshall, Wyalkatchem, Tammin, Quairading, Beverley, Yilgarn, Kulin, Kent, Lake Grace, Dumbleyung, Goomalling and Cunderdin.
The Esperance project is a community driven grant, with the South East Premium Wheat Growers Association collaborating with the project partners CipherTel and Telstra to deliver the service to the Esperance district and surrounds.
To date, the McGowan Government has awarded $12 million in grants from the Digital Farm program, providing fast, reliable, affordable and scalable broadband services to areas outside the current or planned National Broadband Network fixed wireless and fixed line footprints.
Projects from the first two Rounds of grants are already underway to deliver digital connectivity to more than 1,640 agribusinesses across 65,000 square kilometres of WA, which would not have been possible without this valuable program.
The Digital Farm Grants Program recipients can be viewed at https://agric.wa.gov.au/digitalfarm
As stated by Agriculture and Food Minister Alannah MacTiernan:
"The McGowan Government's investment through this program is transforming businesses in the regions, ensuring they are equipped with modern business technology to operate effectively and efficiently in a market.
"This latest investment, in partnership with CipherTel, CRISP Wireless, Field Solutions Group and the North Eastern Wheatbelt Regional Organisation of Councils, will deliver high-speed broadband to 600 farmers across the grainbelt.
"The broadband on offer has the speed and bandwidth for agribusiness use, such as hosting Internet of Things technology, including remote sensing technology, weather stations and data driven decision making tools, surveillance and marketing applications.
"The Digital Farm program is boosting business capability and capacity to drive local jobs, while improving life throughout the regions by providing broadband services comparable - and in some cases better - than those in urban areas."
