# Digital Agriculture Infrastructure in the USA and Germany +
## 4 Discussion  
In the studies in the USA and Germany, the various problems of the data transmission infrastructure for low, medium, and high data rates were analyzed. It is evident in both countries that the quality of the data network infrastructure is still insufficient. Ultimately, political support (social support) are needed before the USA invests in robust rural broadband, thus enabling the adoption of digital technology and the use of more sustainable/efficient food production and processing systems needed by society. In some ways, rural broadband needs to mirror the adoption of electricity in the USA. The electric light bulb was invented in 1880. On 3 June 1889, the first North American electric power transmission line went online. On 11 May 1935, President [PERSON] created the Rural Electrification Administration, and by 1950, most of rural America had electricity. However, things are much different now, especially after the COVID-19 pandemic; society is better informed of the value of rural broadband for the USA. We believe that rural broadband will be deployed much quicker than electricity in rural USA.  
The development of network infrastructure in Germany is such that, in the case of the railroad, electricity, and telephone networks, this was also started by private companies at the beginning, but was then soon transferred by the state to state or semipublic companies. The reason for this development was to ensure network expansion in rural regions as well. From the 1980s onward, the state withdrew more and more from the infrastructure networks and privatized the networks. In the implementation of the individual data networks, it can now be seen very clearly that companies are concentrating on urban areas with a high return on sales. In the case of 4G and 5G licenses, the contracts stipulate that rural regions in particular are to be expanded, but this is not apparent in the analysis. It is therefore evident in both study areas that there is still a need for action.  
Another aspect that the study has shown is that, in some cases, there are no systems that are adapted to the needs of agriculture. Many applications for smart farming in agriculture require continuous and long-term data transmission with only low data rates. Examples are moisture sensors in the soil or position data for cattle. Low-power, wide area networks (LPWAN), such as LoRaWAN, offer solutions for these applications. Although only limited amounts of data can be exchanged via this system, they can be exchanged within a radius of 10 to 20 km (depending mostly on topography) and with low energy requirements. The distribution of these networks in Europe is not uniform. In Switzerland, nationwide use is possible via the major telephone companies. In Germany, on the other hand, there is little interest on the part of commercial providers, and there is only 70% coverage, which is mostly organized via citizens' networks. The question remaining is whether technologies, such as LPWANs, will really become so user friendly that farmers deploy their own networks on a farm level in contrast to relying on network providers like in the past. Another interesting trend, to cover the network availability gaps worldwide, are satellite communication systems. With companies, such as Starlink and Inmarsat, expanding their satellite constellations and connectivity services, this could become an important pillar for farms in remote areas, not only as a broadband connection backbone, but also for the collection of low-power and low-data rate wireless sensor networks.  
Conceptualization, H.B. and L.S.; methodology, H.B., L.S. and M.T.; investigation, H.B., L.S., J.Z., M.T. and K.S.; writing--original draft preparation, H.B. and L.S.; writing--review and editing, J.Z., K.S. and M.T.; visualization, M.T. All authors have read and agreed to the published version of the manuscript.  
This research received no external funding.  
The authors declare no conflict of interest.