Stirling dairy farmer and Clutha deputy mayor Hamish Anderson said getting broadband into the rural areas was something the Clutha District Development and the district council had pursued for some time.
For him, good internet access was extremely important as he used it extensively for his farming business, including banking, getting milk results and research. It was also a source of information for his council role, he said.
Communications and Information Technology Minister Steven Joyce said the agreement with Telecom and Vodafone had been reached after two months of negotiations.
The two telcos were expected to begin rolling out the RBI infrastructure mid-year and it would be completed over the next six years.
"Not only have we secured an agreement that exceeds the Government's RBI objectives, but we will have 252,000 customers in rural New Zealand getting access to high-speed broadband that compares well to urban levels of services and prices.
"I am confident that we have secured the best deal for creating a step change in broadband services for rural New Zealand," Mr Joyce said.
However, Labour Party communications and IT spokeswoman Clare Curran said the Government must halt decisions on the broadband roll-out following revelations that the man responsible for designing it was at the centre of anti-competitive findings against Telecom which saw the company fined $12 million in the High Court on Tuesday.
"A cloud now hangs over the whole of the Government's broadband scheme. There are serious questions about it with regards to competition and regulation."
An independent review must urgently be conducted of both the process and system of the RBI and the ultra-fast broadband (UFB) scheme, Ms Curran said.
Forsyth Barr broker Suzanne Kinnaird said the decision was expected after Telecom and Vodafone were shortlisted.
"Telecom and Vodafone contribute the bulk of the levy which funds the RBI, so this means they largely use their own money to build an open access rural broadband network using a mix of fibre, copper and mobile technologies.
"It is quite separate from the UFB fibre tender which is much more important to Telecom.
Nevertheless, this is positive, rather than negative, for Telecom," she said.
Last November, Telecom and Vodafone submitted a joint proposal to the Government's $285 million tender for the provision of broadband services for rural New Zealand.
Both Telecom and Vodafone would be making "significant investments" of their own to complement the $285 million of government funding.
Mr Joyce said the RBI was a high priority infrastructure for the Government.
"It has been important to ensure we achieve the best value we can for rural communities and taxpayers while having the confidence that the providers selected can deploy a resilient network that at the same time allows for competitive products to be provided to rural customers."
Mr Joyce was making a counter proposal with minor changes to Telecom's operational separation variation undertakings. He expected the response soon.
Federated Farmers was in the process of writing to all councils asking them to allow higher telecommunication towers in rural areas, president Don Nicolson said. "This is critical for wireless broadband and to provide a pathway to next-generation technologies."
RBI was more than being about farmers, he said, it was intended to meet the needs of a quarter of all New Zealanders - 1.1 million people.
On the face of it, the announcement yesterday was a positive step forward but Federated Farmers had yet to get the full picture on what the contracts meant in practice.
"Broadband is vital for all farmers with increasing moves towards precision farming, e-commerce and e-government.
We may not welcome some of the compliance outcomes but fast reliable broadband is necessary for us to comply."
Broadband was not just about reducing isolation, Mr Nicolson said. It was also about enabling economic development to take root in the provinces rather than in just the cities.
At a glance
The final contracts with Telecom and Vodafone provide for:
• 86% of rural houses and businesses having access to broadband peak speeds of at least 5Mbps (compared with 20% of rural homes and businesses now). RBI objective was 80%.
• Construction of 154 new cellphone towers and upgrading of 380 cell towers to enable fixed wireless broadband to rural customers as well as improving mobile coverage.
• Telecom extending its existing fibre network by about 3100km, with some homes on route getting opportunity of fibre to the premise at urban prices.
• 700 rural schools connecting directly to fibre networks and 48 schools having digital microwave radio connections. That means 95% of rural schools having access to speeds of 100Mpbs.
• Wholesale prices comparable to urban pricing.
• Competitors to Telecom and Vodafone being able to access rural broadband funded by the Government on non-discriminatory basis.
• An upgrade path to 4G.