NOT many 15-year-olds juggle a business and schoolwork but Alex Stewart is bucking the trend and making an impact.
The teenager from Whanganui had a vision to deliver better rural broadband coverage to rural areas despite plenty of scepticism about his age. He was 14 at the time but did not give up.
A trip to Turakina Beach revealed the struggles many communities face trying to gain connectivity.
“There are around 350 residents out there and they all struggle with cell signal,” Stewart says.
“There was one internet service provider that basically had a monopoly in the area and was charging high rates. Residents had got in touch with the larger telcos asking if they could put a cell tower in near the area but were told they needed to come up with $250,000 towards it.”
That is when he realised there was a problem across New Zealand. While researching connectivity he uncovered the extent of the problem and found farmers have it worst.
“A lot of what farmers do is cloud or online based.”
Something as basic as a broadband connection urban communities almost take for granted can severely limit their productivity when it is not working well.
“They’re trying to run businesses and they require the internet to do it.”
He has family farming around Whanganui and Rangitikei and an uncle connected him with local farmers to speak to.
“Every single farmer I spoke to wasn’t happy with the state of the broadband that was available to their farm.
“That’s when I realised it’s quite a major issue and considering agriculture is the backbone of NZ’s economy I questioned why their productivity should be limited.”
Wanting to understand the problem he continued his research and discovered internet service providers are not using their technology to its full potential.
Looking at how their models worked and what options there were he approached several technology companies to see if they would be interested in his ideas but nobody took the 14-year-old seriously.
“I knew it could be done so I thought why not just go ahead and do it.”
It took a bit to convince his parents but he got them on board and he started the company WombatNET, initially to deliver ultra-fast broadband to Turakina Beach.
“That was before I realised how widespread the issue was and farmers needed help because they were being limited the most.”
When the Rural Innovation Lab called for applications he put his project forward and was selected.
The lab connected him with large numbers of farmers. He found they all had the same issues with connectivity.
After identifying areas that needed help the most he set about improving their connectivity. Since then several networks have been established across Manawatu and Wellington.
“The results are better than we expected.”
He has found a way to uniquely design his wireless network.
“In layman’s terms we find the closest area that has fibre, get a data centre grade fibre optic cable installed to a property in that area and then we beam from there up to a hill or tower, which then sends the signal to households.
“We can also hook into schools because every school in NZ has fibre infrastructure in place.”
The network is not designed to connect a large number of customers to one connection – about 100 can be connected to ensure everyone gets a larger slice of the connection they are accessing.
But Stewart is confident he can design more powerful networks for larger communities or in areas that have been left without a reliable broadband network.
Since the network is wireless rather than through cables it is relatively cheap to build but delivers nearly fibre-speed internet.
Plans cost $59 to $99 with varying speeds and they all offer unlimited data. The set-up costs are assessed case by case and depend on how many people want to connect.
The network is guaranteed so if anything was to happen to the business the connection would still be serviced giving long-term confidence to customers.
Alex spends his days managing the business and overseeing the networks and installations while being home schooled.
“What we’re doing has the potential to change people’s lives and I really value that.”
Funds are limiting the network expansion. Eventually, he hopes to provide coverage across the lower North Island and parts of the South Island.
“Farmers desperately need good internet and unfortunately there isn’t anything in the works to give them anything faster. The Government’s Rural Broadband Initiative finished in 2018, before I started the business.
“I don’t think it’s good, everyone else is moving forward.”
When there is a network build he hires staff to help with the installations but Stewart is the only one working in the business full time. His dad is an engineer and helps design transmitters and find parts and his mum does the finances.
Stewart has some other ideas brewing to continue to help the rural community.
