Federated Farmers Telecommunications spokesperson Tom Lambie said the call by the Information Minister, Hon Paul Swain, for small businesses to study up on e-commerce was ignoring the sad reality of rural telecommunications.

"What the Minister is forgetting is that every New Zealand farm is a small business. Some of those businesses have difficulty getting a dial tone, let alone usable Internet or email services," Mr Lambie said.

"Federated Farmers has called for a Rural Telecommunication Forum to make some progress on the terrible level of access and poor service, a call the Government ignored and served up an E-Commerce Summit instead."

"The Government knows of the difficulties because it has just held a Ministerial Inquiry. E-commerce is a great buzzword, but one that is just a sad joke for most rural small businesses."

"This Government is headlong into moving its own business online, but it is not putting its energy into solving the problems in rural areas."

ENDS

For further information: Catherine Petrey 025-429-965 or 04-473-7269

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