As a largely rural state, Wisconsin has remote populations that remain unserved or underserved. An award from the NTIA’s Middle-Mile Infrastructure Grant program will allow Dairyland Power to facilitate digital connectivity in those areas, reports GovTech.
Though it is a power company, not an internet service provider, the $15 million grant will make it possible for Dairyland Power to install fiber optic cabling enroute to rural communities. The project is expected to take two years to complete and will ultimately lay down 240 miles of middle mile outreach cabling.
“We’re actually delivering [cables] so that people have not only access to high-speed Internet, but they have access to opportunities,” stated Deputy Secretary of Commerce, Don Graves. “What high-speed internet does is it delivers lives of dignity.”
Graves and White House Director of Intergovernmental Affairs Tom Perez met with residents in Lacrosse, WI to discuss the benefits that will be made available by the cable connectivity. They noted that safety, telehealth, business opportunities, and options for individuals would all be better served with reliable digital access, according to GovTech.
“This is really our 1930s challenge of today,” added Nate Boettcher, CEO of Pierce Pepin Cooperative Services. “It’s getting rural folks connected with a really essential service.”
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