It appears that most of the funding for will be made available directly from the federal USDA Rural Utilities Service (RUS) and the U.S. Department of Commerce National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) through competitive grant programs.

The Wisconsin Public Service Commission (PSC) expects to play a role in implementing the State Broadband Data and Development Grant program, which also received funding under the stimulus bill. This program was authorized in the federal Broadband Data Services Improvement Act (P.L. 110-385) that passed in October 2008. The PSC began gathering basic information about broadband needs in Wisconsin under Docket 5-GF-182. Information about this docket is available through the PSC’s Electronic Regulatory Filing System. The PSC is also working with state and federal agencies to identify broadband funding priorities. As they gain a better understanding of how these programs will be implemented at the federal level, they will post updated information about funding opportunities and programs available to eligible entities in Wisconsin.

TAKE THE SURVEY!!!!!!!

The purpose of the PSC’s Broadband Customer Survey is part of a larger effort to deploy broadband in Wisconsin and ultimately throughout the entire nation. The federal American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) provides for grants to map and deploy broadband, especially to unserved and underserved areas. By completing this survey, you can help us identify where the need for broadband exists. If you need to respond for more than one residence or business location, or have more than one type of broadband service at a single location, please repeat the survey. Preliminary results from the Broadband Survey (data and maps) are now available on the PSC website.