Contact: Thad Nation
414.412.7814
Governor Doyle announces $29 million in funding to provide broadband access to schools and libraries in all 72 counties
MILWAUKEE— Wired Wisconsin on Thursday lauded the announcement that the Wisconsin Department of Administration would receive nearly $23 million in federal funding to match $5.7 million from the state to help provide broadband internet access to hundreds of sites in all 72 counties.
Governor Doyle announced the funding – received as part of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act – today at the Brown County Central Library, one of 467 sites in over 380 communities across the state to receive a portion of the funding.
“Expanding internet access – and particularly broadband access – is one of the best ways to foster economic development, support additional educational opportunities, and increase connections between citizens across the state,” said Thad Nation, Executive Director of Wired Wisconsin. “Today’s announcement is a big step towards ensuring every Wisconsin resident has access to broadband internet, and we applaud Governor Doyle, Rep. Obey and Wisconsin’s congressional delegation, and the US Department of Commerce for securing this crucial funding for the state.”
Among the locations receiving funding are 74 schools, 8 post-secondary schools – including two tribal colleges – and 385 libraries statewide.
In addition to the sites gaining access to broadband, the project also opens the door for additional broadband expansion. The vast majority of the recipients are within a few miles of police stations, fire stations, and hospitals, and over 125,000 households are within the market area of the sites receiving funding.
“The fact that this project is targeted to all 72 counties is great news for areas of the state that currently lack broadband access,” Nation said. “By putting broadband infrastructure in place in every corner of the state, it will be significantly easier to expand access to rural and less wired parts of Wisconsin.”
Thursday’s announcement follows data released by the U.S. Census Bureau on Wednesday that shows Wisconsin is among the top ranked states in the nation in terms of internet usage by individuals.
The state is 9th in the country for individuals that access the internet from some location at 74.9%, and 10th in terms of individuals living in households with internet access at 78.8%. Those figures put Wisconsin well above the national average for the two categories, which are 68.4% and 73.5%, respectively.
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Wired Wisconsin is the Wisconsin-based project of Midwest Consumers for Choice and Competition (MCCC), a non-profit organization of individual consumers interested in technology, broadband, and telecommunication issues with state projects throughout the Midwest region. The project will work to support an environment for innovative technology, high-tech job creation, and economic growth. Wired Wisconsin will seek to educate consumers, policy makers, and businesses about technology- related legislative and regulatory issues that impact our lives and advocate for common-sense approaches to spur innovation and grow the economy. For more information, visit http://www.wiredwisconsin.org.
