Ashland County board endorses Norvado BEAD broadband application

The Ashland County Board of Supervisors voted to endorse Norvado’s application for Broadband Equity, Access, and Deployment (BEAD) funding, approving resolution R02 20 25 1494 after a presentation and questions from supervisors.

The endorsement follows a presentation by a Norvado representative describing the company’s existing fiber network, proposed expansion in Ashland County and the role that a county endorsement would play in BEAD scoring. The presenter said the proposed project would reach about 1,977 broadband serviceable locations (BSLs) — covering roughly 83% of the county on the company’s map — and that the program’s “drop” from the road to the house is included in the BEAD-funded work and would not carry an extra construction charge.

The endorsement matters because BEAD is administered by the NTIA and award applications for Wisconsin are being considered in an initial funding round. The Norvado representative said Wisconsin is receiving about $1,055,000,000 in BEAD funds (as stated in the meeting) and that local endorsements carry weight in the federal scoring criteria.

Norvado described its operations and service offering to supervisors. The presenter said the cooperative began as Chequamegon Communications Cooperative, now operating as Norvado, and serves parts of Ashland, Bayfield, Douglas, Sawyer, Price and Vilas counties. The company said it offers a 1 gigabit minimum service nationwide in its footprint, that its base retail price “starts at $99” and that bundled services can reduce that to about $60–$70 for 1 Gbps service. The presenter also told the board that for BEAD-funded locations Norvado will offer a low-cost option, which the presenter described as a roughly $40 monthly price point for five years as part of the grant scoring commitments.

Supervisors pressed the company on technical and affordability details. Supervisor Kenny asked about distance limits, and the presenter explained that fiber does not have the same distance degradation as copper lines and that the “drop” from the road to a house is typically included in the BEAD-funded installation. A supervisor asked whether Norvado charges for running service from the roadside to a residence; the presenter replied, “Everything...the drop, what we call from the road to the house, that's all part of BEAD.”

Supervisors also asked about affordability for older residents. The presenter said the BEAD application includes a commitment to a low-cost option for qualifying households and reiterated that the company would offer that option as part of its BEAD proposal. On network neutrality, the presenter said Norvado’s public statement is that it does not throttle or modify customer traffic.

Board members raised potential overlap with a tribal project. The presenter noted that the Bad River Band is pursuing its own BEAD application with a different provider and said a county may endorse more than one project in the same general area, but that endorsing multiple projects places them on an equal competitive footing (no additional scoring credit for multiple endorsements). The presenter also listed BEAD program obligations mentioned in the application process, including a four-year completion commitment, Buy American provisions, Davis-Bacon labor rules, reporting requirements and performance bonding.

Supervisor Laura Nigro made the motion to endorse Norvado and instruct staff to fill in the resolution language; another board member seconded. The board voted "aye" and the motion carried.

The presenter said Norvado is already building in parts of the county (the company said it was in a second phase of construction in the town of Eileen) and estimated, as presented, that the Ashland County work would be completed within the BEAD program’s four-year performance window. The presenter also noted that Norvado expects to continue incremental electronics upgrades over time and estimated multi‑million dollar ongoing capital needs to maintain and upgrade network electronics.

The board’s written resolution and the project map were placed in the record; the endorsement does not itself award BEAD funds but was requested to strengthen Norvado’s federal application.

The county clerk recorded the passage of resolution R02 20 25 1494 endorsing Norvado’s BEAD application.