Its Web site has a brief survey on broadband availability in Wisconsin. The federal American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) provides for $7.2 billion in grants to map and deploy broadband, especially to unserved and underserved areas.

Completing the survey can help the PSC identify where the need for broadband exists, and also help participants get adequate broadband sooner. The survey takes only a few minutes to complete and likely will be available for several months.

Funding is provided for a variety of activities to enhance the deployment of broadband technology to rural, unserved and underserved areas. These funding sources include loans and grants for infrastructure investments, sustainable adoption practices, public computing centers, and statewide data collection and mapping. It appears most of the funding 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 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 also is working with state and federal agencies to identify broadband funding priorities. As PSC gains a better understanding of how these programs will be implemented at the federal level, it will post updated information about funding opportunities and programs available to eligible entities in Wisconsin.

For more information about broadband efforts in Wisconsin, contact Gary Evenson at the PSC at (608) 266-6744 or via e-mail at: Gary.Evenson@psc.state.wi.us.