Billimari farmer Chris Groves says new fast broadband has made business and home life “a lot easier and less stressful”. “Being only 10km from Cowra, we weren’t that isolated, but technology-wise, we were. We hooked up to the NBN last December and it’s just fantastic.”

Mr Groves runs a mixed farming business with his wife Sharon and their two school aged children and says it has significantly helped business.

“We can now join online stock auctions without the internet dropping out. Our agronomist sends us large maps and spreadsheets and we can send back detailed images of weeds for assessment. We’ve been involved in a webinar session from home, run by the NSW DPI (Department of Primary Industries), so the information sharing potential is amazing. The simple stuff like downloading emails is a breeze; instead of opening Outlook and going away to make a cup of coffee while your messages downloaded, it’s now all instant.

“Our kids use their laptops all the time; we have four devices going at once and all at high speed. And we’re on a monthly data package which gives us our phone calls using VoIP (Voice over Internet Protocol), through the same NBN connection. I was sceptical because the earlier VoIP phones were woeful. You couldn’t hear, they were echoey, – but this new phone is fantastic.”

Federal Member for Hume Angus Taylor said the NBN (National Broadband Network) tower at Canowindra South, three kilometres from the Groves’ property at Billimari, was activated in late November 2014, allowing 200 premises in the nearby area to access fast broadband.

“Until you hear from a neighbour or someone in the local area, you don’t believe it will work. I know for a small number of people there are waiting lists to get connected, I know a few people have had problems because their provider has disconnected their current internet before they were connected to the NBN – but generally, it’s rolling out well.

“There are now seven NBN towers around Canowindra and Cowra that have gone live, allowing more than 1700 premises to connect to the NBN. Two further towers are due to be activated in mid-2015 to serve a further 350 premises.

“Within Cowra township, optic fibre will be rolled out within the next 18 months to more than 3000 premises. If you can’t get the fixed wireless signal to your home, your existing ADSL connection will still be operational. There may be a longer wait for space on new satellites next year, but fast broadband will be coming for everyone in the district.”

Pictured with Angus Taylor, Billimari farmer Chris Groves says being connected to the National Broadband Network makes life a lot easier and less stressful.