WPR Wisconsin boosts broadband grants to $125M after record demand for funding

By Danielle Kaeding
Published: Friday, June 3, 2022

The state will soon award $125 million in grants to expand broadband internet across Wisconsin. The funding marks the largest grant distribution for broadband expansion since the state began awarding funds in 2014, according to the Public Service Commission.

Gov. Tony Evers and the PSC announced an extra $25 million Thursday on top of $100 million set aside for the current grant round under the State Broadband Expansion Grant Program. The money is part of funding provided for broadband expansion under the 2021-2023 state budget.

“I’m proud our work over the last three years is helping provide more than 300,000 homes and business(es) with reliable, high-quality internet, and the funding for this grant round will help us build on that good work so that students, workers, business owners, families, and communities can access the internet in every part of our state,” Evers said in a statement.

[…]

“I thank Governor Evers for his continued investment in closing the digital divide and connecting hundreds of thousands of our fellow Wisconsinites to needed infrastructure,” said PSC Chairperson Rebecca Cameron Valcq in a news release.

The PSC expects to award the grants sometime later this month.