Almost $1 million awarded to helping residents of wood and jackson counties
OnFocus – On Thursday, the Public Service Commission and Governor Tony Evers announced the latest round of Broadband Expansion Grants which includes $28.4 million to help underserved and unserved areas in Wisconsin.
Wood County can look forward to improved broadband service as Bug Tussel Wireless, in collaboration with Wood County and the Pittsville School District, was awarded two grants totaling $992,221.
The grant is slated to serve 3,035 businesses and 58,538 residences in Wood County. According to the grant applications, the Wood and Jackson county requests by Bug Tussel Wireless will serve 55 percent of the total residences affected by the grant in Wisconsin.
According to maps provided by the PSC, southwest Wood County residents have been left in the dark in terms of internet access. A map showing the served, underserved and unserved areas of Wisconsin is available here.
In November 2020, a campaign to get Wood County residents to write letters saying they would like better internet access was started. The towns of Pittsville, Dexterville, Babcock and Veedum have long needed an upgrade in internet service.
Due to the recent pandemic, needs for internet have been magnified as students need it to perform school activities and businesses have employees working from home.
The PSC created the Broadband Expansion Grant in 2013 to help meet the demand for growing reliance on internet. Since then, the PSC has awarded over $44 million to unserved and underserved areas.
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