WPR: Rural broadband hot topic in western WI

By LeAnn R. Ralph

COLFAX  —  Inadequate rural broadband — the lack of sufficient Internet speed in rural areas — has become a hot topic in western Wisconsin.

The West Side with host Rich Kremer on Wisconsin Public Radio, WHWC 88.3, March 27 talked about the topic of rural broadband with Angie Dickinson, state broadband director, Scott Behn, CEO of Mosaic Telecom in Cameron and Andy Aalbarado, Rusk County economic development director. 

The radio show echoed the topic of a meeting scheduled in Dunn County April 6 about finding ways to improve rural broadband in Dunn County.

Coverage gaps exist, primarily in the rural areas of the state. Availability, affordability and reliability are the issues, Dickinson said.

As customers become more dependent on high-speed Internet for their businesses or for personal use at home, the more they want it, Behn said. 

In villages served by Mosaic — Almena, Cameron, Dallas, Ridgeland, Prairie Farm and Sand Creek — where fiber in homes has been installed, the company received a grant to install more Internet backbone so that one one gigabit upload and download speeds are available, he said.

One gig is 100 times faster than average broadband speed. A high definition movie can be downloaded in 30 seconds, Behn explained. 

Faster Internet is important for economic development and helps businesses working online. The number one priority for businesses is workforce, Aalbarado said.

Younger people make decisions based on where they can get good broadband. They decide where to live and where to buy a house based on the broadband available, and it becomes a standard of living issue, he said. 

Kremer said he had found an article in which a Seattle-based company ranked Wisconsin 49th among states and the District of Columbia in average download Internet speed for a wire connection. 

Areas of Wisconsin absolutely need improved broadband service. Last year, Governor Scott Walker held 70 listening sessions, and the need for broadband in rural areas was raised at every session. The governor called on the legislature to increase broadband spending by $35 million. Two broadband bills have been introduced in the state Legislature and are moving very quickly, Dickinson said.

The federal government also is investing in rural broadband, she noted. 

Cost

Companies face a variety of challenges in running fiber to outer regions, and it boils down to cost, Behn said.

Homes are few and far between in rural Wisconsin, and construction costs for fiber can be expensive per mile. Mosaic’s board of directors has approved a multi-year project to bring all cooperative members up to one megabit service, he said.

One Facebook comment for the radio show noted that the person commenting received a half megabit service for $55 per month from Centurylink.

In 2017, Mosaic will spend $1 million on fiber optic to cover 15 miles and 184 homes, which works out to be $5,400 per home or $66,000 per mile, Behn said.

At $5,400 per home for fiber optic, a company would need many customers to make up the investment, he said.

Federal funding is available through Connect America, and three companies, AT&T, Centurylink and Frontier, have received funding for Wisconsin. AT&T will receive $330 million, and all three companies together will receive $570 million, Dickinson said.

Eleven companies accepted $300 million in funding from another program. The federal government will be spending $870 million over the next ten years in Wisconsin, so it will be exciting to see how it works, she said.

Inaccuracies

One man who called into the radio show lives in a rural area in Washburn County. 

The man said he had called Centurylink to find out about service available in the area and was assured many times that 20 megabit service was available. When the technician came out to the man’s house, the technician said 20 megabit service was not available and it was only 1.5 megabits.

Centurylink’s maps showed that 20 megabits was available, but in reality, only 1.5 megs was available in that particular location, he said.

The caller said he was concerned that inaccurate maps would mean certain areas would be skipped while updating broadband service

If a company says a certain Internet speed is available to an area but that’s not actually the case, the misinformation will harm efforts to improve broadband, Dickinson said. 

Meeting

The rural broadband community conversation in Dunn County April 6 will be held at the Dunn County Community Services Building (the former Dunn County Health Care Center building) in Room 54 beginning at 6 p.m. with refreshments starting at 5:30 p.m.

The conversation will focus on learning more about where broadband expansion is at in Wisconsin, what Dunn County is doing to assist citizens in gaining access and how area residents can become part of the solution. 

Presentations will be done by Dunn County staff and UW-Extension, along with time for questions and answers.