Farmers Criticise Government’s Rural Quick Fix of Satellite Broadband

The National Farmers Union (NFU), which supports around 55,000 members across the United Kingdom, has criticised the Government’s new Satellite broadband subsidy scheme. The organisation warns that the solution “does not work that well for everyone” and might struggle to meet its targets.

The subsidy, which officially launched earlier this month (here) and is being made available to 300,000 of the most remote rural premises, is largely a way for the Government to meet their original Universal Service Commitment (USC); this promised that everybody in the UK would have access to a minimum broadband download speed of at least 2Mbps.

The subsidy itself, which is being administered by local authorities (i.e. supplied to eligible homes and businesses upon request), does not have a specific fixed value but can be used to reduce the total cost (i.e. installation and commissioning costs plus up to 12 monthly subscriptions) by around £350.

However Satellite is a far from perfect service (here) and not everybody is happy with the decision to use it.

Guy Smith, NFU Vice President, said:

“We have been doing extensive work with our members to find out how the lack of mobile and broadband services affects their businesses.

And, although we welcome the announcement to roll out subsidised satellite broadband vouchers to help some 300,000 of the most remote homes and businesses to access at least 2 Mbit/s of broadband connectivity, we are not convinced it will be able to meet its targets, especially given the number of people who will be excluded if they cannot meet the strict criteria.

We also know satellite does not work that well for everyone.

We understand the Welsh Government has just announced a far more generous voucher scheme, which is easier to qualify for, and which allows access to a number of broadband technologies.

The recent failure at the launch of the Basic Payment Scheme, which was originally only available online, also highlighted that 2 Mbit/s as a minimum speed is outdated and that significant investment in rural broadband is needed. A reliable mobile phone signal and broadband connection across farm can lead to significant efficiency gains as well as improving health and safety and offer better access to information and services.”

It’s worth pointing out that the Satellite services being offered do actually deliver considerably faster top speeds than 2Mbps, rising up to 30Mbps in some cases, although actual performance will vary depending upon how heavily congested the network is and the service you’re using.

Meanwhile the wait goes on for the Government to announce a proper investment strategy for bringing better quality superfast broadband to the final 3-4% of premises after 2017/18. Separately the NFU also offers its own discounted satellite package for farmer and grower members, which they can access via telephone as well as online. For more information about the scheme, please dial CallFirst on 0370 845 8458 or visit NFU online, here.