Articles, Resources and Events

In a strategic move to foster innovation and address common industry needs, Zetifi and Telstra Labs / muru-D have announced a teaming agreement. This collaboration aims to leverage the strengths of both entities in areas such as agriculture and emerging technologies, including AI, IoT, Wi-Fi, and 5G, to unlock new product and market opportunities.

As a testament to the depth of this partnership, Zetifi will be relocating five of its staff to Telstra Labs, Melbourne, starting November 2023. This relocation signifies a commitment to deepening the relationship between the two organisations and accelerating product incubation efforts.

Deon Liebenberg, Strategic Partnerships & Innovation at Telstra Labs, expressed his enthusiasm for the collaboration: “We are thrilled to welcome Zetifi into the Telstra Labs family. This partnership embodies our shared vision for the future of technology and communication. By bringing our teams together, we are poised to drive unparalleled innovation and address the pressing needs of the industry. The future is bright, and we look forward to the groundbreaking solutions that will emerge from this collaboration.”

Echoing the sentiment, Ben Letchford, Chief Technology Officer at Zetifi, shared his excitement: “Uniting with Telstra Labs is a significant milestone for Zetifi. We believe that by working cohesively under one roof, we can amplify our efforts in adjacent technologies and expand our reach to new customer segments. This collaboration is not just about shared space; it’s about shared vision, ambition, and the drive to make a meaningful impact in the tech landscape.”

The agreement between Zetifi and Telstra Labs / muru-D is a testament to the shared vision of both organisations. It underscores their commitment to pushing the boundaries of what’s possible and delivering cutting-edge solutions that address real-world challenges.
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Pictured (left to right): Kelvin Ye, Alex Ottenhoff, Deon Liebenberg (Telstra), Connor Smith, Todd Essery (Telstra), Ben Letchford, David Nguyen, Dave Bell (Telstra).

About Telstra Labs / muru-D – Telstra Labs is Telstra’s innovation and research arm, dedicated to envisioning and creating the future of technology and communication. With a focus on emerging technologies such as 5G, IoT, AI, and more, Telstra Labs is at the forefront of driving innovation in the tech industry. For more information, visit Telstra Labs’ website.

The STEM disciplines of science, technology, engineering and mathematics are a huge part of everyday life at Zetifi. On any given day, you can be sure that members of our team are progressing research, solving problems, or challenging the status quo in electronics, networking, RF engineering, software, firmware, mechatronics and production engineering. Nothing energises us more than a STEM challenge. STEM is essential to the development of our products and a core part of our company’s identity and culture.

For many of our team members, their STEM interests and projects don’t finish at the end of the work day. Their engineering side projects often become captivating or hilarious topics during lunch discussions and slack conversations. From the electrification of motorbikes, automated home sprinkler systems, astrophotography, and even a secret fleet of autonomous micro-submarines – our team is certainly an eclectic and interesting bunch! Many of the skills and passions they cultivate at home directly contribute to our product and technology development.

A recent addition to our engineering team, Amy Combs, is no exception. Amy joined us a couple of months ago as a Junior Product Designer and has already proven herself to be a great contributor, despite being in just her first year out of school. This comes as no surprise considering her already impressive list of STEM achievements. Amy was the Dux of her school, created a functional prototype of a triathlon wet suit with an integrated ECG heart monitor as her Design & Technology major work, and won the 2022 SUBs in Schools competition for the design and manufacture of remotely operated micro-submarine she developed as part of her school’s SUBs in Schools team. This team victory was part of her school’s involvement in the fantastic F1 in Schools run by Re-Engineering Australia. Amy is continuing her association with this competition by mentoring teams from her old school and recently served as a judge for the 2023 NSW state finals of the F1 category, in which teams design, manufacture, and race a miniature CO2-powered F1 car.

During her time at Zetifi, Amy has been working closely with another of our young stars, Callum Maybon, and has made important contributions to the commissioning and testing of new printed circuit boards (PCBs) that will power our next generation ZetiRover and ZetiCell products. Next year Amy will combine her work at Zetifi with engineering studies at the University of Southern Queensland.

We also have other recent school leavers, such as Edward Trevaskis and Connor Summerhayes, working with us as part of our production team to help us meet the growing demand for our products. If you’ve purchased a Zetifi product in 2023, it’s likely that Edward or Connor had a hand in assembling and testing it.

As a regionally based business, we take great pride in providing opportunities for talented young people like Amy, Callum, Edward, and Connor to launch their careers in manufacturing and STEM in a regional city. They work alongside vastly experienced engineers and product developers, some of whom have over 40 years’ experience in their field!

We’re always on the lookout for new talent that shares our passion for STEM and solving rural connectivity challenges. If you or someone you know would be a great fit for our team of enthusiastic engineers and developers, please don’t hesitate to get in touch with us at careers@zetifi.com.

Pictured (left to right): John Lucas (obscured), Amy Combs, Callum Maybon, Paul Maybon.

Pioneering wireless technology company Zetifi has been awarded a $1 million grant from the NSW Bushfire Commercialisation Fund, in a testament to the company’s commitment to adapt its novel wireless technology — initially designed for farms — to the critical communications sector. This development marks a significant step forward in enhancing connectivity for emergency services.

Zetifi’s journey began with a vision to bridge the digital divide in rural areas, particularly on farms, where reliable internet connectivity was a longstanding challenge. Company founder Dan Winson, a network engineer from Wagga Wagga, experienced firsthand the frustrations of limited connectivity in rural and remote areas and this experience inspired him to establish Zetifi in 2017, with a focus on developing cutting-edge wireless solutions for farms.

Zetifi’s initial breakthrough was the creation of ‘sleepy’ solar-powered wireless repeaters, which extend the reach of existing Wi-Fi networks across vast agricultural landscapes. This allowed farmers to monitor their equipment, manage irrigation systems and gather crucial data remotely. With the support of more than $8 million in government funding to develop and commercialise the technology and a recently completed $12 million capital raise led by Telstra and GrainCorp, Zetifi’s product line-up has expanded to include long-range Wi-Fi hotspots, vehicle and machinery gateways, and location-aware smart antennas.

It became clear that Zetifi’s potential extended beyond the fields, with the company’s technology having proven resilient and adaptable — qualities essential for critical communications, especially during emergencies like bushfires. The Bushfire Commercialisation Fund recognised this potential, leading to the recent grant award that aims to adapt Zetifi’s technology for the needs of the critical communications sector.

The implications of Zetifi’s adaptation for first responders are immense. Firefighters often operate in remote areas with limited connectivity, making effective communication a challenge during crucial moments. With Zetifi’s technology, fire trucks can now be equipped with long-range Wi-Fi hotspots, enabling real-time communication, data exchange and information sharing even in the most remote locations from a small number of vehicles equipped with satellite connections out to the masses of vehicles and firefighters. This interconnectedness enhances coordination, situational awareness and resource allocation during firefighting operations, ultimately leading to more effective and safer outcomes.

The Bushfire Commercialisation Fund’s recognition of Zetifi’s potential underscores the importance of collaboration between the private and public sectors in addressing critical societal needs. As Zetifi’s technology finds new applications in emergency response, it stands alongside a range of existing and emerging technologies that hold promise for safer and more efficient firefighting operations.

This article first appeared in the September/October 2023 issue of Critical Comms.

Zetifi is very pleased to announce the appointment of ex-GME CEO Warwick Clancy to the role of Chief Operating Officer as part of a new-look leadership team.

Warwick began his career in Wagga Wagga before commencing a 24-year stint at globally recognised radio communications developer and manufacturer GME, including 5 years as General Manager Operations, and 7 years as CEO & Managing Director between 2013 and 2020. He brings extensive experience in the design, manufacture, development and distribution of electronics and radio communications products.

As COO, Warwick will be responsible for driving operational excellence, scaling manufacturing, and key commercial negotiations with distribution and channel partners for the ZetiRover and ZetiCell product lines.

He will work closely with CEO Dan Winson to execute on the mass-market growth strategy outlined as part of the company’s recent Series A capital raise.

“I began my career with an electronics trade in Wagga Wagga many years ago, so it seems fitting that I now have the chance to contribute the experience I’ve accumulated since to help Zetifi realise the potential of the technology they’ve developed,” said Warwick.

“I’ve been impressed by the talented team they’ve assembled, their innovative technology, and strong vision for solving rural connectivity, and I look forward to contributing to their continued success.”

Zetifi CEO Dan Winson points to Warwick’s industry connections and understanding of potential manufacturing and commercial partners for similar electronics products as being an ideal fit for the business.

“We’ve proven ourselves to be very capable of developing unique solutions through our iterative design process, prototyping, and batch manufacturing for these products, but we’re now at a stage where we need to scale these ideas and products to capture a broader market,” said Dan.

“It’s a critical commercial juncture so we’re absolutely delighted that Warwick has agreed to join us and apply his experience and leadership to guide us through this scale-up phase as we know it will have its share of challenges.”

Warwick’s appointment has also enabled some other important changes to the Zetifi leadership team as they commence 2023. The Zetifi leadership team is now as follows:

• Dan Winson, Chief Executive Officer (2017 – present) – Dan founded Zetifi in 2017 and has served as CEO since that time. He will continue in this role.
• Warwick Clancy, Chief Operating Officer (2023 – present) – Warwick began at Zetifi on February 1^st, 2023.
• Paul Maybon, Chief Product Officer (2023 – present) – Zetifi’s longest-standing employee after Dan, Paul transition from the COO role which he has held for the previous three years to lead product engineering as Chief Product Officer.
• Ben Letchford, Chief Technology Officer (2021 – present) – Ben will continue as CTO. He recently returned to the company’s Wagga Wagga head office after spending the last 12 months in Rochester, NY, USA, where he established a satellite technology office for the business.

By Dan Winson, Zetifi CEO & Founder

We rarely stop for long enough to reflect on our progress and achievements at Zetifi.

I’m making an effort to change that and with the announcement of our Series A last week, it seems like a good time to thank a lot of people and share some thoughts on our plans from here (tldr: we need even more amazing people, DM me if you’d like to talk).

‍Has it really only been four years?!

It seems impossible that it was only four or so years ago that it was just me experimenting and building product prototypes at the back of Think Technology’s office in Wagga.

Back then, I was generally on the tools, learning what works and what doesn’t on dusty cattle stations in the Northern Territory and other farms all around the country. A combination of good fortune, hard work and generous support from farmers, friends, family, investors, and the state and federal governments has allowed us to build a talented team that has now grown to 20 staff in Wagga, Sydney, Melbourne, and New York!

Over the past 18 months, we’ve deployed hundreds of pilot systems and refined our offers for vehicle, machinery and farm connectivity into products that are ready for the transition to mass manufacturing and a mass market launch.

Last week we announced our $12.25m Series A round led by Telstra and GrainCorp with participation from existing investors including Cultiv8 Funds Management, GrainInnovate, and Artesian. The support we’ve had from investors is a testament to the quality of our team and technology but it’s also recognition that there is a genuine need for our solutions and that the market for providing coverage extension in rural and remote areas is going to continue to grow as farmers and other rural businesses look to adopt connectivity dependent tools and technologies.

We’re very grateful to be in this position so it’s nice to have this opportunity to thank all those who’ve had a hand in preparing us for the next stage of this incredible journey.

• Firstly, we need to thank the hundreds of Aussie farmers who continue to work with us in developing, trialling and refining our technology. You have provided us with the inspiration to tackle this challenge and the education on what farmers need when it comes to connectivity.  In particular, the innovators like Andrew Sevil and Wally Newman who led the way by solving their own problems – thanks for letting us come along for the ride.
• For taking a chance on a big idea and embracing the challenges and sacrifices that come with early-stage startup life I need to personally thank our families, which for me requires a special thank you to my amazing wife @Melissa Winson, not only for tolerating my constant focus on Zetifi but for being the best partner anyone could ask for – without your insights, intelligence and resilience there is no way we could be making this happen.
• For providing your time, knowledge, contacts and in many cases, capital, we’d like to thank our board, advisors and investors, especially Scott Newham, Hakan Eriksson, Richard Skellern, David Skellern, Luke Harwood, Rob Williams, Guy Hudson, Jonathon Quigley, Malcolm Nutt, Jordan Jeffery
• Finally, the various Government and industry stakeholders that have helped us take our technology from concept to reality. Your support has enabled the R&D activities and the commercial pilots needed to learn many valuable lessons. Without you, we wouldn’t be ready to build products that can solve rural connectivity problems at scale. DPIR NT, Wagga Wagga Council, NSW Chief Scientist, DPI NSW, Investment NSW, CSIRO, Food Agility, NSW Telco Authority, DPIRD WA, MADFIG, LIFT, Department of Communications, DAWE, AusIndustry, AMGC, EvokeAg, Grow-NY, Cornell University, Birchip Cropping Group, Case IH, SpaceX, Delta Ag, Essential Energy, Motorola Solutions, University of Technology Sydney, Charles Sturt University, Elders, Nutrien, Intersales, Total Ag, Hutcheon & Pearce, TELUS & Telstra.

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What a team!

Last but definitely not least is a very big thank you to the incredible team we’ve managed to pull together over the last few years. Being able to start a technology company in regional Australia presents some challenges so being able to continually find or attract top-quality people to join us with specialised skills in networking, software engineering, systems design, manufacturing and more at just the right time has been amazing.

We’ve taken on some big projects that have challenged us but every single time our team has stepped up to achieve and exceed expectations.

The feeling of hitting a project deadline or deploying a big order with every member of our team knowing they’ve played a critical role in making it happen is a pretty special feeling that you can’t get without a lot of hard work. You have to be a ‘doer’ to make it at Zetifi! We’ll celebrate that appropriately at this year’s Christmas party.

Our plans from here – come and join us!

Our top priority right now is using these funds will be used to grow our teams in Wagga Wagga, NSW and Rochester, NY, USA while establishing new offices in Sydney and Melbourne. We’ve already commenced recruitment for software engineers, data scientists and other technical staff and will be advertising for sales and customer success roles soon. We’re unashamedly using the media attention from our raise, including this post, to attract the best candidates possible – if you know someone we should be talking to please send them to zetifi.com/careers or ask them to reach out directly via careers@zetifi.com.

We’re excited to be getting to work on scaling the delivery of the solutions we’ve developed. We know that this is just the next step. No doubt there are plenty of challenges and hard work ahead of us still but we’re incredibly pleased to be given the chance to do it with the resources we need to succeed.

Let’s go!!

Dan

Independent sheep production consultant, Anthony Shepherd, operates his Sheep Matters business from his Cootamundra farm. He travels more than 50,000 kilometres every year visiting clients and he’s been using the 5G ZetiRover as part of his day-to-day activities travelling across NSW, southern QLD as well as eastern and southern parts of South Australia. In all his travels there was only one spot in south-west Queensland where he couldn’t get coverage with the ZetiRover and he experienced “more reliable communication day in, day out”.

For Anthony, where his vehicle is the office, this has allowed him to work far more efficiency and service his clients more effectively as he can make phone calls, attend Zoom meetings, and access his client’s data in real-time, such as livestock weights, pedigrees, etc.

As a part of Anthony’s service, he helps clients get set up with the TruTest Walk Over Weighing (WOW) system on-farm. The WOW system enables daily weight information to be gathered on individual livestock to help monitor animal health and meet production targets. In the initial setup phase Anthony often needs to be able to talk to the technical support personnel based in Sydney and they sometimes need to gain remote access in. The use of the ZetiRover has greatly improved this overall process so it can be completed there and then in the paddock.

NOTE: This case study was researched and written by Birchip Cropping Group as part of the Australian Government-funded 5G Innovation Initiative (5GII) project. The 5G enhanced mobile broadband ZetiRover unit was provided to Anthony Shepherd free of charge for the period of the trial.

“Connectivity is key” for Agronomy and Precision Agriculture (PA) service providers where much of their work requires problem-solving in the paddock and having access to a suite of information sources. Many agronomists have begun to rely on cloud-based farm management platforms to record and communicate their recommendations to clients. The increased sophistication of modern farm machinery since the advent of GPS guidance and variable rate application of farming inputs has also increased the importance of reliable connectivity for machinery suppliers so they can help farmers get the most out of the equipment they provide.

For this reason, the team from Hutcheon & Pearce, one of Australia’s largest dealers of John Deere machinery, was keen to trial the 5G ZetiRover units to help their service and precision agriculture specialists to work more effectively and efficiently as they travel through the country.

For James Niemeyer and John Dailey, PA specialists from Hutcheon & Pearce’s TECSight division that helps farmers get the most out of the modern John Deere machinery supplied by the business, the 5G eMBB ZetiRover made a “measurable difference” to the service they could provide. James spends a lot of time out in the field supporting clients with their machinery and ag tech solutions. Before having a ZetiRover installed on his ute, James would have to drive up the nearest hill to make a call and/or to access My John Deere (the online data and support portal for John Deere machinery) and in some cases where the coverage was that bad James would have to make notes in the paddock and then return to the office to make the necessary calls, view data, seek advice on parts etc. which was not the most efficient use of time.

Whilst only being able to trial the ZetiRover for a short period of time James Niemeyer has been able to increase the timeliness of information being relayed to clients which has allowed for more timely operations and time savings just by simply being able to get jobs done out in the paddock. And with more and more information becoming available on the web including the ability to access machinery manuals online, James believes “talking to the cloud will be paramount” and service providers in the agronomy and precision ag space will need to be connected.

John Dailey had a similarly positive experience with the 5G eMBB device, commenting that his “life revolves around the internet” due to the range of programs he now uses to help clients achieve the best outcomes on-farm in his role with TECSight. For example, John uses T3RRA Cutta, an in-cab landforming system that combines with elevation data to help users to design, optimise and implement earth moving operations, resulting in minimal earth being moved to achieve the same water movement outcomes for irrigation farmers. With the ZetiRover, John was able to download and upload data right there in the paddock rather than waiting until he returned to the office. This not only saved him time but also delivered the information back to the farmer instantly.

Another way John has found the ZetiRover useful was the connection range from his vehicle, with Wi-Fi still usable as far as two hundred metres from his vehicle. This came in handy when downloading and uploading shape files that determine variable rate prescriptions into client’s machinery. In the past John relied on a SIM card in his laptop which was very hit and miss, or would hotspot off his phone – often requiring him to jump in and out of the tractor cab multiple times to get the files transferred. With the ZetiRover however John was able to remain in the tractor cab to download the file and he found it to be “5-6 times quicker” with the ZetiRover in comparison to hotspotting off his phone.

Tom Hensgen, After-Market Sales Manager at Hutcheon & Pearce also trialled a ZetiRover and for him being able to connect to online meetings whilst on the road has been a big boost to his productivity and meant that he has not had to dedicate specific ‘office days’ to attend, instead fitting them in amongst other activities.

Photos (top to bottom): 5G ZetiRover unit on Hutcheon & Pearce service vehicle; Zetifi staff Spencer and Ramon installing 5G ZetiRover on Hutcheon & Pearce vehicle.

NOTE: This case study was researched and written by Birchip Cropping Group as part of the Australian Government-funded 5G Innovation Initiative (5GII) project. The 5G enhanced mobile broadband ZetiRover units were provided to Hutcheon & Pearce free of charge for the period of the trial.

For Nina Guo, Product Manager of Digital Farming ANZ at Bayer, “the ability to improve data connectivity” in regional Australia is an exciting prospect and something that has the potential to help users of Bayer’s FieldView platform, which was only recently launched in Australia. FieldView is a digital platform that uses a piece of hardware called the ‘FieldView Drive’ to read data from the machine and deliver real-time data to the user in the cab. The technology has the potential to boost yields through insights and options for metre-by-metre tailoring of seed rates, spraying, weed management and more.

Being able to make these data-driven decisions in real-time requires reliable connectivity. For this reason, Nina and the Bayer team were very keen to trial the 5G ZetiRover with some of their FieldView customers as “they would be solving quite a big issue” and eliminating a potential barrier to adoption for this innovative new technology.

The 5G ZetiRover enhanced mobile broadband (eMBB) device was installed on the tractor of Rhys Thomason to provide connectivity to his Bayer FieldView system. Most of Rhys’ time evaluating the 5G ZetiRover connectivity was while he was working with the FieldView system on a broadacre cropping operation to the west of Darlington Point in the Riverina region of NSW. Phone signal is usually very poor in this area but he found that the ZetiRover provided reliable connectivity for his phone and the FieldView system worked well in all locations. Interestingly, the data collected by Zetifi showed that the ZetiRover connected to 5G Telstra coverage at a distance of 11 kilometres from the township; much further than would be possible with a phone handset alone.

Photos: 5G ZetiRover unit mounted on Rhys Thomason’s tractor while he works the fields to the west of Darlington Point, NSW.

NOTE: This case study was researched and written by Birchip Cropping Group as part of the Australian Government-funded 5G Innovation Initiative (5GII) project. The 5G enhanced mobile broadband ZetiRover unit was provided to Rhys Thomason of Commins Enterprise free of charge for the period of the trial.

The Burkinshaw family operate a mixed farming operation to the west of Wagga Wagga. As part of the 5G Innovation Initiative (5GII) project that Zetifi delivered with Australian Government funding they were provided a 5G-enabled ZetiRover unit to evaluate whether it could address the patchy coverage on their property.

Craig Burkinshaw and his son William were very pleased with the results. The ZetiRover helped with timeliness of data entries, access to agronomist recommendations in real-time via the AgWorld platform, and making phone calls while out and about in the paddock.

In contrast to some of the other triallists that participated in the 5GII project, the Burkinshaw’s also moved their rover around onto different machinery and vehicles depending on the key activities on farm. During sowing William had it set up on the cabin of their Case IH tractor so he could be entering data into AgWorld whist spraying and sowing. AgWorld is an online farm management software package that allows users to capture any information they want to about what is happening in each paddock as well as help keep farmers and their advisors connected with any changes made to plans updated in real time. Prior to using a ZetiRover there would often be delays in receiving recommendations from their advisor. Syncing data entries also had to wait until Will travelled through an area with better service or back at home on the computer. With the ZetiRover, however, there were no such delays.  At other times of the year when more hours are spent elsewhere the ZetiRover was moved to his dad’s ute so he could keep business ticking over by being able to make and take calls whilst travelling around the farm.
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Photos: 5G ZetiRover unit mounted on the Burkinshaw’s Case IH tractor on their farm west of Wagga Wagga, NSW.

NOTE: This case study was researched and written by Birchip Cropping Group as part of the Australian Government-funded 5G Innovation Initiative (5GII) project. The 5G enhanced mobile broadband ZetiRover unit was provided to Burkinshaw Farming free of charge for the period of the trial.

Self-driving tractors and other autonomous farm machinery promise many transformative benefits for the future of farming. They have the potential to reduce labour costs, improve farming precision, and can allow farmers to use their time more productively on other tasks to optimise their operations. Various prototypes and some autonomous machines are currently available to Australian farmers; however, connectivity remains a big barrier to their adoption.

One such company that specialises in autonomous machinery is Australian agtech company SwarmFarm Robotics. SwarmFarm are true pioneers and they have the runs on board to prove it, having recently revealed that their autonomous robots have already covered one million acres of farm land through over 55,000 hours – an impressive achievement that puts them ahead of many much larger companies that are now trying to catch up in the race to full autonomy. Despite this success, poor connectivity continues to be a major barrier to adoption as it hampers much of the functionality of the robots and can seriously impact on running time if an operator loses contact with the SwarmBot. For this reason, SwarmFarm were very keen to assess Zetifi’s connectivity solutions to alleviate this pain point for their customers.

Field Service Coordinator for SwarmFarm, Dustin Van Nek, recently trialled a ZetiRover on SwarmBot robot that was guiding a 12m wide Weed-It autonomous sprayer on a farmer’s property in the Darling Downs, QLD. Two SwarmBot sprayers were in use on the farm so Dustin was able to compare the Zetifi product mounted on one, to their standard 4G solution that was running on the other. In terms of improving serviceability of the machines Dustin noted that when software engineers were required to login and do remote updates, pull data down from the cloud and push it into the machines (a twostep process) “the SwarmBot with the ZetiRover had completed both stages before the traditional 4G solution had completed three quarters of the first stage”.

The superior coverage from the ZetiRover also improved the upload speed for coverage maps, meaning that the farm owner could see a more accurate coverage map showing where the SwarmBot had been working. The farmer commented that when checking the two SwarmBot coverage maps the one with the ZetiRover had a complete coverage map loaded and the robot connected using SwarmFarm’s legacy 4G connectivity solution was a significant way behind.

Another important function that benefited from improved connectivity was the ability of the robot to send photo and video footage to the phone app for review by the operator when it encounters an unexpected obstruction. Being able to send these photos to the operator in real-time so an instruction can be given as to whether the robot should continue with the assigned task is critical in maximising the running time of the SwarmBots.

In addition, Dustin also had a ZetiRover mounted to his work ute and found that “being a field service coordinator I’m constantly in contact with field service fitters and support staff.  It [the ZetiRover] has certainly increased the coverage so that I can remain productive because I spend a lot of time in my vehicle which is essentially unproductive hours for me.”

Photos (top to bottom): SwarmBot fitted with 5G ZetiRover and Weed-It Sprayer boom at FarmFest 2022; Close-up of 5G ZetiRover and antenna array on e-box of SwarmBot at FarmFest 2022.
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NOTE: This case study was researched and written by Birchip Cropping Group as part of the Australian Government-funded 5G Innovation Initiative (5GII) project. The 5G enhanced mobile broadband ZetiRover units were provided to SwarmFarm Robotics free of charge for the period of the trial.

As a stock and station agent for Elders Stud Stock, an important component of Jenni O’Sullivan’s role is ensuring the success of premium sheep and cattle auctions across north-eastern Victoria and southern NSW.

Reflecting a digital trend that is helping to improve the accessibility of livestock sales, Elders often makes use of the AuctionsPlus online auction service to stream video and audio of livestock auctions. Online auctions can significantly increase the competitiveness of the sale and have enabled Elders to host successful auctions during peak COVID periods when auction attendance numbers were impacted by border closures and other social restrictions.

Unfortunately, mobile blackspots are common on host properties, and this limits the extent to which Jenni can use online auction platforms at her customers’ properties. According to Jenni, online auctions are a win-win situation for everyone but only when she has sufficient coverage.

Jenni purchased a ZetiRover from Zetifi in August 2020 so she could offer the benefits of online live auctions to more of her clients. The ZetiRover is a portable Wi-Fi solution that provides the best possible coverage with high-gain antennas and multi-carrier technology which provides access to the Telstra and Optus networks. If there’s even a faint signal available, the ZetiRover will find it! It’s also built to withstand the dirt, dust and rain that come with life on the farm.

With the ZetiRover, Jenni can now confidently stream high-quality video and audio from stud sales and other on-farm auctions, regardless of where she is. She can also use the ZetiRover on her vehicle when travelling between auctions and meetings to reliably make and receive phone calls via Wi-Fi Calling.

“Elders has firm auction start times and with the ZetiRover I’m now able to interface with AuctionsPlus and use my phone when I need it most,” said Jenni. “If you haven’t got the confidence that you can make a call or easily get information, our whole day would just fall over. Having that uninterrupted connectivity makes a big difference to helping serve our customers and the productivity of the business.”

One important difference between Zetifi and traditional carriers or internet service providers is the ability to use the full range of backhaul connections available when designing farm Wi-Fi solutions.

The availability of the nbn network right across Australia makes it an ideal backhaul choice for many farmers. By combining the nbn connection with Zetifi’s ruggedised long-range Wi-Fi products, farmers can extend the nbn to their sheds, yards and machinery.

One such project has dramatically improved connectivity at Bullarto Downs, a large broadacre cropping farm owned by Warakirri Cropping Group in Hopetoun, Western Victoria. The project has enabled Farm Manager David Drum and his staff to access the nbn Fixed Wireless network for the first time and has transformed voice and data blackspots into connected spaces.

A solar-powered microcell repeater from Zetifi at a neighbouring property captures the fixed wireless connection and sends this to a base station at the farm.

“The connection we had before was very marginal because of the distance from town but with the new nbn-Zetifi system we’re able to run Zoom meetings and use Wi-Fi Calling to help our phone calls. It’s been good this year because with COVID we’ve had a lot more meetings via Zoom,” said David.

“We use it for a lot of things. I have regular Teams meetings with my manager and all the data for our monthly reports is in the cloud, so we need to be able to access that. There’s nothing worse than working on those reports and the systems aren’t talking to each other properly.“

As well as these uses of connectivity in the office, it’s the increasing use of software to manage the day-to-day running of the business that is really changing things.

“It’s not until you really think about it that you realise how much we use the internet. We run software that manages our cropping program and spray treatments, online safety software, and our tractors run the MyJohnDeere platform which means I can login and see the same screens as the bloke out in the paddock, and you need good internet to do that,” said David

“Computers are getting faster and becoming more important and sometimes out here you may not have that connectivity on your phone, but with the NBN we’ve got good high-speed data coming through. Knowing that we’ve got a reliable connection through the Fixed Wireless network and the nbn-Zetifi setup has made a big difference.”

From this initial success, the site is now one of many farms across Australia at which Zetifi utilises the powerful backhaul capacity of the nbn™ network to provide true last-mile connectivity to sheds, yards, machinery and paddocks.

As Zetifi CEO Dan Winson explains, these projects extend the benefits of the nbn™ network beyond the farmhouse and offer new possibilities that will improve productivity for agricultural businesses of all sizes.

“When you talk to farmers, you quickly realise that they’re some of the most innovative people you’ll meet so they’re naturally very switched on to technology and what it can offer them,” Mr Winson said.

“These days a lot of that technology requires connectivity so extending Fixed Wireless beyond the farmhouse or office and into the paddock has enormous potential for IoT devices and other agtech solutions.

“There is a rapidly growing market for connected devices that track the movement and weight of livestock with electronic identification and precision agriculture with smart tractors becoming the norm.

“The backhaul capacity of the nbn is absolutely vital for us to deliver these solutions in many locations around Australia.”

FOOTNOTE

This story first appeared on page 12 of ‘Connecting Australian Agriculture’ – an important joint report from nbn and the National Farmers Federation that was published on 9 November 2021. The report is the starting point for a three-year partnership between these two organisations that aims to lift the digital capability of Australian farmers as a key factor that will help Australian agriculture grow to a $100 billion industry by 2030. It showcases many other on-farm applications of the nbn network to improve productivity in agriculture.