Getting linked

“2024 will be a huge year for Taylor County.”

That is the message from county board member Mike Bub, who has spearheaded the county’s ongoing broadband internet expansion project as chair of the broadband committee.

Bub noted that the tower-based broadband through Bug Tussel will begin going live in Rib Lake, Goodrich, Interwald and Deer Creek beginning in May. Throughout the summer, additional towers will be going live around the county until all 17 towers are put in operation.

Bub said one of the hold-ups is that Bug Tussel is waiting on approval of permits for three towers located in the National Forest. Bub said those sites will go live if the permits are approved in late 2024. “Getting permits through the national forest continues to be difficult,” Bub said.

See COUNTY on page 4 The towers provide a connection point between fixedbase equipment at people’s residences and the towers which are connected to the recently installed fiber optic network. Bub noted some towers will be connected by microwave relays because of location making the installation of fiber too expensive.

In addition Bug Tussel will begin making fiber connections to homes in July and August 2024. At the same time, Bub said the county is continuing to work with WanRack, as an internet service provider to identify and connect homes and businesses along the fiber optic routes built by Taylor County.

Bub explained that when the broadband project began 4.5 to 5 years ago, it was with the goal of getting affordable high speed internet to as many people in the county as they could by the end of 2025.

To date, the county has spent about $8.2 million of the $9.2 million earmarked for the project to install the fiber network and is fast moving toward the goal of having affordable high speed internet available to as many people as possible.

Bub said that the goal is to have 20mbps service, the federal standard for high speed internet, available at a cost of about $50 per month. He noted that while the county does not have the power to control the costs, there is language in the contract with the individual service providers about the cost to consumers.

He projected that the fixed wireless costs for Big Tussel, should be between $50 and $60 per month and that in the past they have had introductory costs as low as $30 a month.

He further noted that there are programs available to get some government funding for a household to reduce monthly costs. He said they will be providing that information from the state as soon as possible with more information available by the end of March.

As far as fiber to the home, Bub estimated that this will be in the $80 per month range. He noted that different companies have different packages available depending on the speed people want at their house.

Bub also explained that the county is prohibited by law from being the internet service provider (ISP) and that while the county owns the fiber network, it must work with private ISPs to provide service to homes and businesses.

The good news for county taxpayers, is that the county receives 11.25% of the gross revenue from all the customers on the network.

Beyond this the county is already saving $3,500 a month ($42,000 a year) for the county being on its own network instead of contracting with Charter as it did in the past. In addition, all towns and village halls along with the city of Medford are connected to the county’s 1 GB/second network and will continue to receive free internet for the next 20 years.

According to Bub, the county’s taxpayers are further protected under contract language that guaranteed that at the end of the 20-year contract there is a buyer who will purchase the network at a cost of $11 million.

“Taylor County will get all of its money back, plus the revenue received over 20 years,” Bub said.

In addition, Bub said that the county’s project has also spurred investment and competition from private companies such as TDS and Charter. He noted that these companies have also been able to receive grant funds that the county was not eligible to receive for fiber to the home projects.

He said that currently Charter is in the process of connecting fiber to the home in Westboro. Bub said he viewed Charter’s and TDS’s expansion into more rural areas as a win for county residents because the risk of competition from the county’s project has prompted those private companies to “protect their turfs.”

“Having competition has dramatically lowered the rate for access to internet,” Bub said.

Bub projected that by the end of 2024, 80% of the county will have the ability to purchase high speed internet at an affordable rate. The journey to this point has not been without its hurdles. While the county started before many others, the explosion in demand, coupled with supply chain shortages, has delayed the equipment from arriving. For example, equipment that should have taken six weeks to arrive from the factory instead took 14 months.

Bub said they understand why people are frustrated about the seemingly slow pace at which things are progressing. The process has parts where things move slowly and then when they get to connecting individuals’ homes and businesses it will move very fast.

Bub also noted that technology continues to change, and that while the fiber-optic backbone the county installed will continue to serve for decades, the ways to interface with that network and connect to residences is constantly evolving.

“If you get something faster than fiber you have invented time travel,” Bub said, noting the transmission rates of fiber optic are at the speed of light.

This does not mean that getting people connected is an easy task.

“If this was easy, anybody would do it,” Bub said, noting the technology is complicated and it is changing very fast.

Bub invites community members to attend a public meeting at the Taylor County Education Center (former NTC location) on College Ave. in Medford at 3 p.m. and 7 p.m. on March 19 to learn more about the broadband project and about ways to get connected.