Bidding For Bulls On Broadband

Julene and Garry McCorkindale have been customers of Unifone from early days – way back before the merger with Rivernet. Before joining Unifone, Glenside Farm had struggled with internet access for a long time. Situated in a self-confessed black spot, their location meant they weren’t in direct line of a cell tower or wireless provider, so they went with the expensive satellite option. At first, it worked out well for them, but as more people signed up for it, they noticed a significant drop in internet speed and service.

That’s where Unifone came in. Unifone spent some time looking at the local infrastructure and devising a solution so that Garry and Julene could have reasonable, reliable internet. Now, Garry and Julene have internet not just at their two houses, but also at the woolshed. Bringing not just their home lives but their farming business up to speed with great internet.

“With high-speed broadband, there’s a whole new level of opportunity,” Garry says. His vision of developing a fully online auction, with a group of buyers who can watch live while communicating back to their agent and lodging bids has finally coming true. Nowadays, their Simmental bull stud boasts a variable speed wireless router in the stock handling yard. Its configured at a low speed for most of the year, but as sale time nears it is ramped up. That allows the sale to be live-streamed, and potential buyers from afar to bid remotely by contacting their stock agent on-site over Facetime or Messenger services.

Meanwhile, Julene uses the Unifone network to support her separate business – developing sales with prospective clients in the USA and UK using Skype and other platforms that enable all-important face-to-face contact.

Before Unifone came along connectivity was very poor and expensive. Now the couple enjoys excellent video and streaming services, from a supplier they describe as “very responsive.”