Editors note: This story was published as an April Fool's Day joke.

Ground-breaking technology could soon see outback farmers access fast, wireless internet, so long as they are within range of a cow.

Researchers at CQUniversity have developed the Bovine Utilising Long-range Link (BULL) system, a highly sophisticated cattle ear tag equipped with a small modem, which can offer connectivity in the most remote locations.

The BULL tags emit a weak wi-fi signal, effectively meaning any beast can become a mobile hotspot.

Project lead Professor David Swain said the technology was an exciting step forward to improve rural communications.

"The cows connect up and we're able to get 3G coverage, it's pretty simple really," he explained to ABC Rural. Listen Duration: 3 minutes 44 seconds 3 m 44 s Listen Space to play or pause, M to mute, left and right arrows to seek, up and down arrows for volume. Professor Dave Swain explains how a cattle ear tag could improve outback internet access ( Craig Zonca ) Download 1.7 MB

"I'm surprised nobody else has thought of this before.

"Why not use what's out there already and get those cows working for us in more than just working beef.

"If we can use them for connections, I think it's a fantastic solution."

More importantly, a mob of so-called 'connected cattle' have a multiplying effect; meaning the greater the herd, the greater the reception.

"Once they start aggregating and coming together, they obviously boost the signal," said Professor Swain.

He is adamant the research team has largely overcome a number of obstacles experienced during initial prototype testing, including poor battery life.

"When they [the cattle] come to the water trough, we just plug them in and recharge the devices," said Professor Swain.

In the harsh, hot conditions of central Queensland, the researchers found the device also overheated quite quickly.

"We developed a really innovative solution called 'open ear flow cooling technology'," said Professor Swain.

"It's basically the ear flapping, we capture the cooling effect of ears flapping."

Professor Swain said Brahman cattle had exhibited the best ear cooling ability in field trials.

He also recommended using a glow-in-the-dark fluorescent markers to paint a wi-fi logo on cattle so farmers could easily spot a 'connected' beast at night.

Initial field trials show a smartphone user within a 150 metre radius of 10 connected cattle could utilise download speeds of up to seven megabytes per second.

Professor Swain is asking for more producers to participate in a wider trial of the technology before a commercial launch on April 1 next year.

"Producers want coverage so they can do their 'Facebooking' in the paddock," he said.