The Wisconsin legislature is considering a law that would make changes to the areas that can be served by the broadband expansion grant program, which is administered by the Public Service Commission, as well as increasing the broadband speeds that will be funded.
Under the measure, the grant program would only support constructing broadband infrastructure in “unserved areas,” which it defines as the absence of an ISP that is either a fixed wireless service or wired service at no less than 100 Mbps downlink and upload speeds of 20 Mbps. Currently, the PSC is targeting “underserved” areas of the state that are served by fewer than two broadband service providers.
The legislation unnecessarily rules out non-fiber solutions like fixed wireless access for the hard-to-deploy last mile connectivity, according to an opinion piece in the The Cap Times by Stephanie Cassioppi, Senior Director of Government Affairs at UScellular.
Additionally, the bill gives priority to applicants that claim to provide download speeds of 100 Mbps and upload speeds of 100 Mbps. “These symmetrical speeds are unnecessary,” Cassioppi wrote. “Fiber is the only technology that delivers them, but consumer usage patterns continue to show no need for symmetry.” Download speeds need to be 12-14 times higher than upload speeds to meet connectivity needs, according to data from CommScope.
Cassioppi said that government funding will fall short of the amount needed to connect homes across the digital divide if fiber deployment is required, because Fixed Wireless Access can be deployed for 40 percent less than fiber optics.
By J. Sharpe Smith, Inside Towers Technology Editor
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