Teen brings fast internet to farms
A Whanganui teenager has big plans to get fibre internet speeds to rural customers.
Alex Stewart, 14, says rural communities are paying fibre prices for copper speeds and face a huge bill to get access to faster internet. Alex was staying at Turakina Beach, 20 minutes south of Whanganui, when he got talking to frustrated locals who had been in touch with a telecommunications company about getting cellphone coverage and better internet. ‘‘They said ... the community would have to pay for it and it would be about $250,000, with a community of only 100 residents.’’ So Alex started researching better options.
Alex’s solution was to connect rural homes to the fibre network virtually, so there are no cables being run to the properties.
He starts by finding a high point, like a hill or silo, to put a radio transmitter on. ‘‘Then, if a property wants to connect to us, as long as they can see that radio from their roof, they can connect to it. We just put a small dish the size of your hand on the roof.’’ Alex’s business, WombatNet, uses similar technology to that of some big telcos but at a lower cost. ‘‘After a bit of digging, I found that why they weren’t offering these speeds is because for them it cuts down the margin and the profit.
‘‘So, basically they will try to fit as many people on one radio as they can and so each person gets a slice of that connection.’’
Alex said WombatNet would be putting up more radios to maintain higher speeds. Each radio can reach properties within a 20 kilometre radius but at 20km away a farm would only get copper speeds. WombatNet would have a radio for every 5km radius. ‘‘Then we know people can get full speeds in that radius and if there is someone out of that range, then we will build another tower.’’
Alex’s initiative is one of four new projects being supported by the Rural Innovation Lab.
The support includes mentors from start-up and company development experts The Factory, a bio-commerce centre in Palmerston North, and a contribution to project costs.
He is also getting support from Whanganui and Partners, Whanganui District Council’s economic development agency.
He has broadband consultants helping to plan the network and business mentors to advise on the plans. ‘‘I was guided by the pricing of the other providers and I just worked out, alongside my mentors, what would be the lowest price that I could provide while still making enough money to maintain the network and expand it when needed.’’
Rhonda Morris, from Whanganui and Partners, says the agency has been helping Alex find funding for WombatNet’s start-up costs.
‘‘Because of his age, the typical funding streams weren’t available to him,’’ Morris said.
Alex plans to launch his business in the next few months.
Home base for the radio equipment will be an industrial site in Marton. He plans to subcontract the installations. WombatNet’s up to 100 megabit per second speed package will cost $99 a month for unlimited data. Its cheapest package is $59 a month for speeds of up to 25Mbps and unlimited data. Installation is free. ‘‘Some of my mentors said you could charge a lot more for this and people would still buy it,’’ Alex said. ‘‘But that is not what I want.
‘‘I am doing it because I want to do something for these people.
‘‘I get a real kick out of knowing that I am helping people.’’
As for the WombatNet name – like a real wombat, high-speed rural internet is rare and exciting to see, Alex said.