Telecom and Vodafone have formed a joint venture to compete for the $285 million government contract to provide broadband to 95% of rural schools and 86% of rural households and businesses.
They will construct 154 new cellphone towers, upgrade 380 existing cell towers and extend existing fibre network by more than 3000km.
The federation's national president, Don Nicolson, says its fibre-from-farm project could compliment Telecom's fibre infrastructure.
He says he is still to establish whether the farmers' system could get access to key points and at the right price.
The system means farmers would extend the fibre system from their property to a point where they can access other networks - something already being done in some areas by firms such as Opto.
Mr Nicolson says Opto Network has two rural networks connecting more than 50 homes in the Awatere Valley near Blenheim and in Wairarapa.
Commenting on the Government's scheme, Mr Nicholson says there is better technology available for the rural network and it may be that the Government's ambition is not high enough.
The project will not be completed for six years and by then most urban areas will have ultra-fast broadband. Mr Nicholson says the length of time to finish the rural broadband scheme is a concern.
Rural Women's national president Liz Evans says rural communities have been waiting a long time for the Government's rural broadband and she hopes the telecommunication companies will finish the project more quickly than the planned six years.
Ms Evans says Rural Women also look forward to seeing competitive deals from other telecommunication companies who will have open access to the fibre and wireless networks being established under the intiative.
She says the broadband rollout is positive but her organisation would like the Government to come up with a solution for the more than 100,000 rural and isolated residents not covered.
