In early August 2024, the U.S. Department of Commerce’s National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) approved Wisconsin’s Initial Proposals for the Broadband Equity, Access, and Deployment (BEAD) Program. Congress allocated Wisconsin over $1 billion to deploy or upgrade high-speed Internet networks to ensure that everyone has access to reliable, affordable, high-speed Internet service.  

Wisconsin’s vision is that all Wisconsinites will have equitable access to affordable broadband service and the capacity to fully engage in a digital society. High-speed internet will benefit all residents and communities.

A key component that allows full use of the internet is robust affordable service. Many residences throughout the state do not have internet at home because it is cost-prohibitive. Across the state, on average, broadband subscription prices are less affordable in rural areas, compared to urban and suburban localities. Affordability analysis found that the median subscription cost was about $10 more in rural areas compared to urban, and the range in rural areas much larger, with the lowest available cost subscription price in some areas around $150 per month, compared to $90 in urban areas.

While rurality plays a role in the cost of service, provider competition also plays a role in affordability of subscription plans across the state. Census blocks with only one provider on average have subscription prices approximately 25 percent higher than census blocks with three or more provider options. Since BEAD funding will largely go to rural areas and most often be awarded in locations that will have only one broadband service provider, it is required and essential that a low-cost plan be available to eligible households to ensure that networks built or improved with BEAD funding provide affordable, reliable high-speed internet for all.  

One key goal for the Badger State is to increase the affordability and reliability of broadband service in Wisconsin. To achieve this goal the state adopted objectives to:

• Decrease the number of under-connected households and households without adequate broadband.
• Invest resources in promoting adoption and digital literacy, scaling programs and community efforts that are working, and initiating new efforts where most needed.
• Households with income below 200 percent of the federal poverty level have access to fixed, home broadband at a cost of less than $30 per month.
• Increase outreach and engagement with underserved populations such as aging individuals, incarcerated individuals, veterans, individuals with disabilities, individuals with a language barrier, individuals who are members of racial or ethnic minority groups, and individuals who primarily reside in rural areas to ensure all Wisconsin residents can make full use of the internet and have a voice in program design and evaluation.
• Internet access is reliable, and networks are resilient and secure. Internet access is consistently available and designed to sustain through disasters and threats.  

Wisconsin also planned to promote the Affordable Connectivity Program (ACP) and other related resources for broadband affordability to increase adoption in the state. Funding for ACP expired earlier this year. As of August 2023, approximately 387,000 of the estimated 894,005 eligible households in Wisconsin enrolled in the ACP. The Public Service Commission of Wisconsin facilitated ACP application trainings in partnership with existing organizations in both rural and urban areas that focused on increasing outreach through a ‘training the trainers’ approach.  

Wisconsin's Low-Cost Broadband Service Option for BEAD Networks

All internet service providers accepting BEAD funding (and their successors including future owners of the facilities during the useful life of the network assets) will be contractually required to offer a low-cost plan. The low-cost plan must meet all the following criteria:  

• Costs $40 per month or less for the first year (12 months) of service, inclusive of all taxes, fees, and charges with no additional non-recurring costs or fees to the consumer. A sub-awardee may request, and the Public Service Commission of Wisconsin may approve, a different maximum cost per month for the required low-cost plan if the sub-awardee provides documentation that the requested price is affordable to the eligible population in the locations where BEAD funding constructs new or improved broadband.
  • A request to increase the maximum cost per month must include detailed information with the specific rationale for the higher cost and include data on the current and anticipated take rate and cost burden to the household in the project area.
  • A request to increase the monthly cost may not exceed seventy-five percent of the average urban internet service cost as provided by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. 
• After the first year, the monthly cost may be adjusted once per year up to the Consumer Price Index, as defined by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics upon request and approval from the Public Service Commission of Wisconsin.  
• Allows the end user to apply the Affordable Connectivity Benefit subsidy [or successor program(s)] to the service price.
  • A low-cost plan must be available for all ACP-eligible households on all BEAD-funded networks.  
  • The sub-awardee may offer other households, in addition to households that meet the qualifications for the ACP, access to the low-cost plan (for example, households with K-12 children or households with a veteran) but the provider will be responsible for determining the eligibility.   
• Provides at least typical download speeds of at least 100 Mbps, typical upload speeds of at least 20 Mbps (or the fastest speeds the infrastructure is capable of if less than 100/20 Mbps), and typical latency measurements of no more than 100 milliseconds.
• Is not subject to data caps, surcharges, or usage-based throttling, and is subject only to the same acceptable use policies to which subscribers to all other broadband internet access service plans offered to home subscribers by the participating subgrantee must adhere.
• In the event the provider later offers a low-cost plan with higher speeds downstream and/or upstream, permits eligible subscribers that are subscribed to the low-cost broadband service option to upgrade to the new low-cost offering at no cost.
• Is advertised and included in marketing and outreach material distributed to current and potential customers as demonstrated through print and online materials. The low-cost plan must be visible in places (website and forms) where customers subscribe to broadband service.  

If the provider is designated as an eligible telecommunication carrier (ETC) anywhere in the state of Wisconsin at the time of its BEAD application, it is encouraged to request ETC designation for any areas built with BEAD funding and to accept the federal Lifeline benefit for broadband and broadband bundled service to further reduce the cost of broadband service for eligible low-income households. 

Since the National Verifier is no longer available to determine eligibility for the low-cost plan, BEAD sub-awardees will be required to participate in another eligibility verification process as determined by NTIA or the State of Wisconsin. 

Wisconsin's BEAD Middle-Class Affordability Plan

A foundational goal in Wisconsin’s BEAD plans is to increase the affordability and reliability of broadband service in Wisconsin. The Wisconsin Broadband Office learned that households were cost-burdened when their monthly subscription costs exceeded 1.17 percent of their monthly gross income.

Provider competition plays a role in affordability. While achieving competition in unserved and underserved areas in the state may be challenging, a variety of current and emerging technologies may increase competition now and in the future. The Public Service Commission of Wisconsin will continue to promote structural competition in the broadband marketplace to ensure Wisconsin customers can benefit from a competitive marketplace where it is available. 

The Public Service Commission of Wisconsin will use cost of service as part of the merit criteria for the BEAD sub-granting process. This includes both the required scoring related to the price of symmetrical 1 Gbps service and additional scoring for lower-cost plans that are available to all Wisconsin customers on BEAD-funded networks.

Wisconsin will annually track the number and location of cost-burdened households and ensure that households in BEAD-funded networks are not unduly cost-burdened. As needed, the Public Service Commission of Wisconsin will issue data requests to BEAD sub-awardees to ensure that BEAD-funded networks are affordable and may develop new and expanded strategies to ensure ongoing affordability for all Wisconsin residents as needed to fully realize the goals of the BEAD program in Wisconsin.

Affordability for All

High-speed, reliable internet access should be affordable to all Wisconsin residents, including both low-income and middle-class households. 

The affordability of high-speed internet service is often dependent on a variety of specific characteristics of the household, including geographic location, household size and composition, income and disposable income, and the specific fixed and mobile broadband needs for each member of the household and their related costs.

Wisconsin will continue activities to promote ACP or a successor program, outreach for state and federal Lifeline subsidies, and other state Universal Service Fund programs that support essential telecommunication access for people with disabilities and low-income households in Wisconsin. Activities that support higher subscription rates on BEAD-funded networks will increase the overall network viability.  

Additional Coverage on Wisconsin Broadband Priorities

• Wisconsin's Digital Equity Values
• Wisconsin Broadband Infrastructure Projects Get a Boost from American Rescue Plan

See the latest Wisconsin broadband news

More in this Series

• Louisiana's Plan for Affordable Broadband
• Pennsylvania's Plan for Affordable Broadband
• Washington State's Plan for Affordable Broadband
• The Kansas Affordability Plan
• Affordable Broadband for Nevada
• Will BEAD Networks Deliver Affordable Broadband for All in West Virginia?
• Delaware Wants to be the First State to Achieve Universal Broadband—Affordability is a Key Component
• Eliminating the Digital Divide in the District of Columbia Requires a Focus on Affordability
• A Plan to Bridge the Digital Divide in Colorado
• Ensuring All Hoosiers Have Reliable and Affordable Broadband
• Increasing Broadband Availability, Accessibility, and Affordability for the Benefit of All Utahns
• The Connection Between Affordability and Internet Adoption in Oregon
• How Maryland is Working to Make Broadband More Affordable
• Arizona Aims to Make the "6th C" More Affordable
• Illinois Committed to Changing the Broadband Affordability Picture
• Broadband Affordability is First and Foremost in Maine
• Universal Access to Affordable, Reliable Broadband in Kentucky
• Hawai'i is Working to Connect All to Affordable Broadband
• Equitable Access to Affordable Broadband in Wisconsin

The Benton Institute for Broadband & Society is a non-profit organization dedicated to ensuring that all people in the U.S. have access to competitive, High-Performance Broadband regardless of where they live or who they are. We believe communication policy - rooted in the values of access, equity, and diversity - has the power to deliver new opportunities and strengthen communities.

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