GREEN BAY—New North, Inc., the regional economic development corporation serving the 18 counties of Northeast Wisconsin, today released the results of its Regional Broadband Access Study.
The report reflects a strong desire for improved broadband service across every constituency and offers 10 strategic recommendations centering on the goal of delivering high-performance Internet in all areas of the New North region. The study included input from both households and businesses throughout the New North on existing broadband assets, and was gathered through paper and online surveys, plus in-person stakeholder meetings.
Among the findings:
• 50% of respondents are “dissatisfied” or “very dissatisfied” with their current Internet speeds and 88% of residents are interested in faster and more reliable service.
• 96% believe that New North and/or local governments should help facilitate better Internet access.
• 35% of residents report the quality of Internet service is affecting where they choose to live.
• 98% of businesses indicated that the Internet is important to their success and 71% reported that they need employees to be able to work from home.
“We know that broadband has become essential community infrastructure, much as building and maintaining roads were in the early twentieth century,” says Barb LaMue, president and CEO of New North Inc. “Today, the advancement and support of digital road systems is critical to community and economic business development.”
Continued investment in broadband infrastructure also is key to attracting business investment as well as retaining workers in the New North, LaMue said.
The study’s recommendations include:
• Development of a regional broadband strategy with a multi-year set of goals achieved through local, state and federal funding sources.
• Focusing on the development of public/private partnerships with targeted investments in passive broadband infrastructure such as towers and dark fiber.
• Improved service-provider access to more towers in the rural and underserved areas of the New North region.
• Ordinance and planning changes, focusing on conduit/fiber overlay plans, mapping of private-sector assets, integration of telecom into planning and permitting, an open-ditch policy, and the minimization of tower permitting costs.
• Seeking grants particularly for underserved and unserved areas to construct new broadband infrastructure.
• Establishing a regional Middle Mile Network, developed collaboratively by New North partners, to significantly accelerate the availability of fiber to homes and businesses . This network also would serve as an economic-development tool that allows tech-oriented businesses to locate almost anywhere within the New North.
Counties in the New North region will receive a detailed map of their county along with an asset analysis of existing broadband and identification of where there are gaps in service.
The study, conducted over the final four months of 2021 by broadband planning firm Design Nine, in partnership with Midwest-based consulting firms MSA and Geo Partners,was funded by a $500,000 EDA CARES Act Recovery Assistance grant and $125,000 in matching local funds.
The executive summary of the report and the full regional report are available on the New North website at https://www.thenewnorth.com/broadband-access.
Each of the 18 county individualized reports will be made available in March following the conclusion of the county-level meetings to finalize the detailed information.
