Hampering business growth
Broadband connectivity continues to be an issue for farmers across the UK, despite repeated government promises to address the problem.
NFU research shows that just 16% of farmers have superfast broadband speeds. This lack of connectivity is hampering business growth.
More than four in 10 farmers say they still don’t have adequate fast and reliable broadband in order to run a modern-day farming business.
At a time when some farms are enjoying the benefits of advanced connected technologies, many UK farmers are being left unable to complete basic business processes or even a Zoom call.
Addressing this issue is an absolute priority for the NFU.
James Cox’s story
James Cox is the NFU Gloucestershire county chairman and vice-chair of the NFU national crops board. He farms 278 hectares of Cotswold Brash soils near Tetbury.
His property is a substantial distance from his nearest broadband cabinet and served by copper wires, significantly degrading data signals over distance. This left James struggling to achieve 2Mb/s download and 0.5Mb/s upload speeds from his internet system.
For James, this was a real frustration and drain on his time.
“There’s a common perception of farming as a manual business,” he explained, “but the industry is just like any other. It has digitised rapidly. Farmers need a good internet connection for a whole range of tasks – from banking to managing suppliers and logistics. Poor connectivity is a huge drain on our time and efficiency.”
Pandemic
When the pandemic struck, it compounded the problem further.
With a young daughter studying for her A levels and one son back from university doing coursework online, James’ existing system was being put under added pressure.
“I was in a situation where business calls were constantly failing and the whole family was having to check with one another about who was using the broadband. It became particularly stressful when my son needed to upload exam papers for assessment. He had a 45 minutes window to do this – but it was touch-and-go whether that was enough time.”
The solution
James was contacted by a private provider, 4G National Broadband, who specialise in supplying broadband via 4G to more rural properties, to see if they could help and an engineer was promptly dispatched to his farm to assess his property and install an external 4G antenna and 4G router, which was done within days.
The solution works by latching onto available 4G signals and amplifying them before piping them down to a 4G router that then spreads WiFi connectivity throughout the property.
Immediate improvement
James noticed an immediate improvement to his connection. He can now complete crucial business tasks without a hitch, join Zoom calls and even stream content – something that was inconceivable previously.
James now regularly runs tests on the system, using the same speed checker for consistency, and has obtained download speeds ranging from 7.5 to 12Mb/s and upload speeds ranging from 6 to 14Mb/s.
On average, he receives 10Mb/s download and 8Mb/s upload speeds – a fivefold increase on those experienced previously.
It is this significant improvement in broadband performance that has made the biggest difference, as James said: “It’s clear when using the internet that we’re able to navigate much quicker than before. We are pleased with the 4G installation and would recommend it to others that have connectivity issues like ours. I can certainly endorse the improvement that has been made and would recommend others in a similar position to give it ago – especially as there is a 14- day money back guarantee.”
Looking forward
James, like many of his farming peers, is looking to diversify his business by creating holiday lets on his farm. To date, a lack of viable internet connection has been a significant barrier to him progressing these plans – but with 4G National Broadband, they look more and more likely.
“With 4G National Broadband, we now stand a much better chance of building our business. Internet access was a big concern for me because visitors now expect this as standard. With 4G National Broadband I’m confident that this would not be an issue.”
For more information
Rural Britain can contribute to levelling up the nation – access to sufficient broadband and mobile is key for future growth. Find out more in the NFU’s Levelling up rural Britain report.