County endorses ISPs for broadband projects

By Kevin O’Brien

The Marathon County Board of Supervisors has officially endorsed three internet service providers (ISPs) that are interested in applying for federal grant dollars to expand broadband internet access to rural parts of the county.

Based on a recommendation from the county’s broadband task force, the board voted last Thursday to endorse Bug Tussel, Bertram Communications and Mosaic Technologies for high-speed internet projects proposed in various part of the county.

Supervisor John Robinson, chair of the broadband task force, said Mosaic is interested in providing service to the western half of the county, roughly up to CTH 0, while both Bertram and Bug Tussel are looking to do projects throughout the entire county. Over 30 ISPs throughout the state have expressed interest in applying for a portion of the $1 billion Wisconsin is set to receive through the federal Broadband Equity Access Development (BEAD) program, which was created as part of the 2021 Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act.

ISPs have until Feb. 25 to apply for the first round of funding through BEAD, which will provide up to a 75 percent match for individual fiber optic cable projects. The Public Service Commission is in charge of reviewing the applications and recommending to the federal government which ones should receive funding.

Marathon County has been divided into 113 “project units,” which encompass all 8,443 homes and businesses that are currently considered unserved or underserved and are not set to receive broadband internet through other grant programs. Many of the BEAD-eligible addresses are located in the rural townships east of the Abbotsford/Colby area and between Athens and Stratford.

Robinson said the three ISPs were recommended by the task force because members believe the companies have the technical capabilities to complete broadband expansions by 2029, in accordance with BEAD guidelines.

The county’s endorsement provides each of the three ISPs with seven points on the BEAD’s 100point ranking system, which could be decisive when awarding grants. Local townships and school districts were also asked for letters of recommendation to provide additional points.

Other ISPs, including Charter Communications and Frontier Communications, can still apply for BEAD grants, but due to various concerns, the county’s task force did not recommend endorsements for those ISPs. In July, the PSC will present its chosen proposals for BEAD funding, which will be followed by a two-week public comment period before they are submitted to the National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA).

With all of the federal funding cuts proposed by President Trump, Robinson said there is some uncertainty about how the BEAD program will be impacted.

“We don’t know what the current administration will do,” he said. “There are some rumblings that there may be changes to the program which could impact the plan and the timeline, but it’s an unknown so we’re preceding based on the guidelines that are before us today.”

John Robinson