Dunn County broadband gap analysis surveys now live

By LeAnn R. Ralph

COLFAX  — Dunn County’s broadband gap analysis survey went live as of the morning of June 19.

Residents in Dunn County are encouraged to fill out the survey to help make a more accurate map concerning access to broadband Internet service, said Jason Hausler of UW-Extension at the community broadband meeting at Colfax High School the evening of June 19.

Every residence in Dunn County will receive a postcard by the end of the following week asking households to fill out the survey, he said.

About 30 people attended the broadband meeting in Colfax.

Broadband is on “all the time,” is immediately available and is defined as 25 megabits per second download speed and four megabits per second upload speed, Hausler said.

The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) changed the definition of broadband several years ago to 25 and four megabits.

The information gleaned from the surveys will help internet service providers in applying for state grant money to expand broadband access in rural areas.

If the state Legislature approves the proposed $11 million in the state budget, the grant money is expected to be available through the Public Service Commission of Wisconsin.

The map currently being used by the PSC to identify areas where broadband Internet access is available is quite inaccurate.

The PSC’s map uses census tracts, and if one household in the census tract has broadband, the entire census tract is considered to have broadband, even if broadband might only be available at one household, Hausler said.

According www.census.gov, census tracts have a population of 1,200 to 8,000, with a population of 4,000 being the optimum number.

So in other words, according to the map currently being used by the PSC, based on population, if one household in the Village of Colfax, the Town of Colfax and the Town of Elk Mound combined had broadband, all households would be marked on the PSC’s map as having broadband. The 2010 census counted 4,136 people in the village and the two townships.

State Representative Rob Summerfield (R-Bloomer; 67th Assembly District) said he had attended a meeting several weeks ago with the governor’s office and the PSC’s broadband division.

“I will be the liaison between businesses, constituents and broadband … give us your Internet stories,” he said.

Representative Summerfield said he would help with the grant process and would be an advocate for improving rural broadband.

Poor Internet access is becoming “a huge issue” with realtors, he said.

“Who wants to buy a house with no Internet access?” Representative Summerfield said.

Fast, reliable Internet access is important to realtors, schools, businesses and to individuals, he noted.

“Keep me in the loop … contact me and give me your stories,” Representative Summerfield said.

Increased revenue

In developed countries where there is a heavy use of broadband, such as China, Brazil and Sweden, revenue has increased by 20 percent, Hausler said.

“With the lack of broadband access, what are we losing out on for business … what kind of revenue are we losing (without adequate Internet access)?” Hausler wondered.

Hausler said he’d had four or five people tell him that they had recently moved to the Colfax area, but if they had known about the poor Internet connectivity available in this area, they would not have moved.

Recreation

Without access to broadband, recreation also is compromised, Hausler said.

Cabins and resorts “up north” that have poor Internet connections have trouble attracting people who want to stay connected and be able to check their e-mail while they are on vacation or use a laptop computer or tablet computer to connect to the Internet, he said.

Internet access has a real economic impact for towns and businesses and an impact on the ability to attract new businesses, Hausler said.

Schools also are impacted. For students to learn in the 21st Century requires Internet access. Health can also be impacted because telemedicine, which allows patients to confer with health care providers without going to a clinic, also requires a good Internet connection, he said.

Return on investment

Internet access is a matter of supply and demand, Hausler said.

Mosaic Telcom has gigabit service available in Sand Creek, but only 15 percent of the households are using it, he said.

“Their return on investment is not high,” Hausler said.

Installing fiber for broadband costs about $20,000 per mile as the base cost.

The question for the ISPs becomes “at $60 or $70 per month, is it worth it?” Hausler said.

If an ISP spends $20,000 per mile in a rural area and then ends up with three customers on that mile, for example, at $70 per month for the service, it would take more than eight years before the company would start to see a return on the investment.

If the cost for the Internet service was $100 per month for each of three customers per mile, it would take nearly six years before the ISP would see a return on the investment.

Consumer confidence in the ISP also is important, Hausler said.

Consumer confidence is “extremely low” for one company in the area, he noted.

Hausler did not name the company, but several people in the audience seemed to believe he was referring to CenturyLink.

Consumers judge their service on speed, cost and reliability, Hausler noted.

Survey

The first step in completing the gap analysis for broadband availability was the community conversations.

The first community conversation was held in Menomonie in April. The second meeting was held in Boyceville in May. And the third community conversation was in Colfax June 19.

The next step will be to meet with municipalities and continue meeting with ISPs, Hausler said.

Phase 2 began with the roll-out of the survey, he noted.

Residents and businesses in Dunn County will have until Friday, July 21, to complete the survey.

If anyone would like a paper copy of the survey, the Extension office will mail out a copy, Hausler said.

The gap analysis is expected to be completed this fall, and then the next step will be to work with ISPs to help them secure funding for broadband expansion, he said.

The survey is available online at www.dunn.uwex.edu.

You can also contact the Extension office at 715-232-1636 or e-mail Hausler at jason.hausler@ces.uwex.edu.