Broadband Upgrade

The Department of Administration and the Department of Public Instruction have entered into an agreement with At&T to improve broadband services for Wisconsin libraries. According to DOA, the new agreement will increase broadband capacity to 10 megabytes per second.

February 4, 2014

For Immediate Release

Contact: DOA Communications, 608-266-7362

Public-Private Partnership Leads to Faster Internet Service at Wisconsin Libraries

Today, the Department of Administration and the Department of Public Instruction announced an agreement with AT&T and partner telecoms to upgrade broadband services for the vast majority of libraries across the state.

“Upgrading broadband service to more than 300 libraries will help residents in all areas of the state,” said Secretary Mike Huebsch. “This is not just a onetime service upgrade—the fiber being installed will enable us to upgrade internet speeds in the future and is a perfect example of how we can partner with the private sector to help addresses a common need. The agreement with AT&T is both cost effective and efficient, libraries will not see a cost increase and end users will experience much faster internet speeds. This is especially important in rural areas of the state where people regularly utilize libraries for high speed internet access.”

Governor Walker recently discussed the importance of high speed internet access at the annual Governor's Northern Wisconsin Economic Development Summit stating “Reliable broadband is necessary to connect consumers and businesses with state, national, and international markets.”

“We applaud Governor Walker for providing critical infrastructure to Wisconsin’s libraries,” said Scott T. VanderSanden, president of AT&T Wisconsin. “With fiber, libraries will have greater connection speeds and will be able to easily increase their bandwidth as their needs grow. AT&T and local telephone companies are proud to partner with the state to provide advanced broadband services for libraries in communities across Wisconsin.”

These libraries currently have access to 1.5 megabyte per second service. Under the public-private partnership with AT&T and other telecoms, all libraries will be upgraded to 10 megabytes per second, with additional capacity available in the future. The agreement with AT&T calls for the upgrades to be complete by the end of 2014.