Telecom industry protests University of Wisconsin's broadband plan

The University of Wisconsin System is coming under fire from the state's largest association of telecommunications providers for planning to use millions of dollars in federal stimulus funds to expand high-capacity broadband Internet services in communities across Wisconsin.

Bill Esbeck, the executive director of the Wisconsin State Telecommunications Association, argues the project will duplicate an existing network and take revenues out of the pockets of local Internet providers. The group is asking for a state review of the plan and is considering legal action, says Esbeck. But those backing the undertaking argue it will bring faster and more reliable Internet service to public safety agencies, health care providers, schools and community organizations in Platteville, Superior, Wausau and the Chippewa Valley (Eau Claire) area. The project would expand Community Area Networks, which essentially are regional co-ops for owning and managing broadband fiber. Critics say it would duplicate and compete with BadgerNet, an already existing network that is provided by local telephone companies to municipalities and other public entities under a deal with the Wisconsin Department of Administration.

"This grant seems like a bizarre thing to fight, but if you look carefully at who is pushing this, it's the same not-so-invisible hand of AT&T," says UW-Madison professor and telecommunications expert Barry Orton. "This is an industry protecting its own nest. It's the equivalent of the railroad industry 50 years ago saying, 'You don't need to put money into airports and please don't put any federal funding into highways.'"