Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Broadband Telecom topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Bug Tussle reports county broadband project complete: nine towers and roughly 110 miles of fiber now in place
Summary
Bug Tussle told the Kewaunee County Board that the company completed its county broadband project, delivering nine wireless sites and about 110 miles of fiber that together pass roughly 8,400 residents; the county loan to the company is being repaid monthly.
Scott Felt, director of community affairs for Bug Tussle, told the Kewaunee County Board of Supervisors that the private partner’s multi‑phase broadband project now includes nine wireless sites and roughly 110 miles of fiber across Kewaunee County.
Felt said the county’s wireless project began with a 2020 Public Service Commission grant of about $960,000 (county match) to build wireless sites; a 2021 fiber phase cited a $1.4 million grant and a county loan of $2,200,000 to Bug Tussle. He said the project ultimately installed about 110 miles of fiber (the initial grant line items plus additional splicing) and nine towers.
“The fiber reaches approximately 1,400 people. The wireless towers reach approximately 7,000 people. So within Kewaunee County, that reaches about 8,400 people,” Felt said, noting that “passed” households can receive service but are not necessarily customers. He said the fiber was installed primarily to provide backhaul for the wireless towers and that Bug Tussle has also allowed splicing for properties close to the middle mile when feasible.
Board members asked about site ownership and last‑mile access. Felt said landowners own most tower sites and the company pays rent except where the county owns infrastructure; in one case Bug Tussle purchased a tower and the underlying land in Luxembourg. On last‑mile service he said the grant was middle‑mile focused but properties within roughly 500 feet of the middle mile can be spliced for service; denser last‑mile connections were not included in the original scope and would require additional work or funding.
Felt called Kewaunee County one of Bug Tussle’s most successful counties by customer density per tower and said the company continues to make the monthly payments due to the county under their loan agreement. “We continue to make our monthly payments,” he said.
Ending: Felt said Bug Tussle is open to future conversations about densification or additional fiber loops if the county or other partners pursue them; supervisors were left with maps and a summary of the project.
