Langlade County Board Approves Broadband Plan

The Langlade County Board of Commissioners unanimously approved the Langlade County Broadband Plan during its meeting Monday night.

Angie Close, economic development executive director for Langlade County, said, “as you know, the key benefits of that plan is definitely to make sure that our high speed internet for residents and businesses are implemented with opportunities and priorities for public safety, community, and economic development, education, healthcare, and entertainment.”

The main purpose of the Broadband Plan is to give insights to the current status of broadband deployment in Langlade County.

According to langladecountyedc.org, “the information presented in this plan aims to help the county understand broadband, thus assisting local officials in making well-informed decisions in supporting the right broadband deployments.”

The plan helps promote optimum connections to residents, taking costs into consideration that are associated with the deployment of broadband.

According to Close, the plan has been in the works a long time. In fact, the work began in 2015. With it being almost 10 years since the plan was first generated, Close said, “it’s a slow process. It’s not fast because it’s very expensive.”

Close explained that internet services are not regulated.

“Therefore, it’s something we have to build partnerships with and work with them to implement true broadband,” she said.

Close shared that the Broadband Equity Access and Deployment Program (BEAD) is a grant program that has awarded the State of Wisconsin over one billion dollars.

“There are approved internet service providers that can move forward in applying for grants for specific project units in an area,” she said.

Along with approving the plan, the commissioners approved a resolution endorsing Nsight’s (Cellcom) application for BEAD funding for broadband expansion within Langlade County.

“This means bringing true internet to Langlade County,” Close said. “It means better economic community development criteria to attain and retain people here.”