|
|
 |
 |
 |
Agristar Tells FCC: "Internet Plus Satellite Broadband Will Change
The Way Agricultural Business Is Done"
|
WASHINGTON, D.C.,
February 3, 2004 – Agristar Global Networks' chairman Cliff
Ganschow told the Federal Communications Commission last week that
satellite broadband connectivity now enables the agricultural industry
to fully utilize the Internet in the many ways originally anticipated,
but which until now could not be realized because of extremely slow
connectivity speeds over rural phone lines.
Agristar's presentation was part of the FCC's "Making the Rural
Connection" forum held on January 27, which explored innovative
approaches for utilizing satellite broadband in agriculture, education,
telemedicine, public safety and entertainment. Agristar was selected
to discuss the opportunities now available for farmers and agribusiness
to use its two-way satellite network to deliver high speed information
and business services.
"The Internet has always had enormous potential in agriculture,"
Ganschow said, "because of the industry's size, its complexity
and fragmentation, and the steadily increasing need to move large
amounts of information fast. But rural geography, where deployment
of cable and DSL lines is not economically feasible and phone lines
are terribly slow, has kept a heavy lid on this potential until now."
Ganschow told the FCC audience that huge amounts of money were initially
invested in Internet platforms by both traditional agribusinesses
and new dot com companies with little, if any, thought given to connectivity
speed. "The only solution at that stage was to dumb down Internet
sites in terms of graphics and applications, and then only limited
amounts of data could be sent," he said. "Agristar's satellite
broadband, with download speeds that are 20 to 30 times faster than
rural dial-up, has opened up a vast new arena for effectively using
the Internet." Agristar's satellite technology partner is Hughes
Network Systems, the world's largest satellite services company.
Ganschow ended his presentation to the FCC staff and audience by listing
a variety of ways Agristar already is being successfully utilized
throughout the country by farmers, agribusiness and rural non-farm
users. "In my 40 years in communications," he said, "there
has never been anything close to the potential of the Internet combined
with 2-way satellite broadband to impact how business is done in agriculture
and to open new opportunities for rural America overall.
For full text of Agristar Chairman Cliff Ganschow’s speech “Agristar’s
Role in Connecting Agriculture and Rural America,” presented
at the FCC’s Rural Satellite Forum, January 27, 3004
Media Contact
Warren E. Clark
847-836-5100
warren.clark@ccimarketing.com
Agristar Contact
Kip Pendleton
President
kip.pendleton@agristar.com
|
| |
 back
to top |
| |
|
