Wisconsin Broadband Dashboard

Background

1) The Region 6 Broadband Planning Team met regularly over a course of a year beginning in February 2011 to identify opportunities to expand broadband availability and use. The benefits of expanded area broadband connectivity are many including but not limited to:

• Support new business formation, telecommuting and job development;
• Reduce the need to travel long distances for medical care;
• Improve the ability of hospitals, schools, government and others to access specialty skills that improve their  effectiveness and efficiency.
• Improve local residential, business and governmental access to education and training resources;
• Enable seniors to access social security and Medicare information on-line;
• Facilitate farm access to program information, markets and inputs;
• Speed response and improve coordination of emergency services;
• Facilitate marketing of the region to visitors; or
• Enable government to more efficiently deliver services to local residents.

2) The Region 6 Broadband Planning Team has identified the need for a coordinated regional effort to mobilize and support area communities to implement projects that improve access and adoption of broadband, especially in underserved areas. Specific initiatives could include such things as:

• Utilizing the area library network to implement public outreach to expand awareness of broadband opportunities and deliver technology skills training.

• Regional sharing of lessons learned through experiences such as the Community Area Networking approach currently underway in La Crosse.

• Expanding the use of social network tools such as Facebook to promote awareness of broadband development opportunities and promote greater collaboration among communities in the region.

• Support forums that bring together area broadband providers and community members to find solutions for areas where broadband availability is not sufficient or adoption of existing broadband is low.

3) It is noted, however, that there is greater need for improved broadband access in some areas than others. In particular, area providers continue to expand service to population centers within the region. This includes some companies extending fiber to homes and business. But there remain gaps in rural areas that are higher cost to serve. The terrain in the region contributes to the challenge of extending service in outlying areas.

Area terrain increases cost of providing service to outlying areas

4) The many hills and valleys in the region increase the amount of infrastructure necessary to extend broadband service to farms and villages in outlying areas.

5) This document begins with a description of the regional need and opportunity, followed by an outline of a specific action to facilitate regional coordination by implementing initiatives that result in expanded broadband access and adoption. The proposed plan is careful to build on and complement other existing related broadband development initiatives happening in the region at the same time.