Up to $2 million from Round Two of the McGowan Government’s successful Digital Farm Grants program is now available to help expand enterprise-grade broadband for businesses and residents across regional Western Australia.
Matching grants of up to $500,000 are available to assist telecommunications providers to deliver fast, reliable, affordable and scalable broadband services to areas outside the current or planned ³Ô¹ÏÍøÕ¾ Broadband Network fixed wireless and fixed line footprints.
In Round One of the program, $5 million was granted to five grant recipients, to assist them in rolling out broadband services to more than 1,240 agribusinesses across 41,000 square kilometres – from Kununurra to Mount Barker.
Digital connectivity is essential for modern agribusinesses to access smart farming technologies, such as automated sensors, surveillance and data capture applications.
Applications for Round Two of the Digital Farm Grants program close Wednesday December 4, 2019. For more information about the program or to submit an application – visit .
As stated by Agriculture and Food Minister Alannah MacTiernan:
“The Digital Farm Grants program is a powerful initiative that produces immediate benefits to regional agribusinesses, enabling access to high speed internet services with improved bandwidth as soon as the service is operational.
“This program has been highly successful in attracting commercial investment to deliver premium quality broadband services to areas that would not have received it without the State’s investment.
“Round One of the program is already transforming business operations for farmers in the Mid-West, as well as improving life in the regions.
“Round Two of the Digital Farm Grants program will extend business-grade broadband to new regional areas throughout our vast State, providing reliable broadband to businesses and residents that would not otherwise have access to this fundamental, modern service.
“Our farming sector need every opportunity for a competitive edge in a global market, and enabling the use of 21st century technology through provision of enterprise-grade broadband helps to keep our agriculture sector and economy strong.”
