PSC says 25 BEAD agreements are fully executed as industry panel flags affordability, permitting and relocation costs as deployment barriers

The Public Service Commission told the Governor's Task Force on Wednesday that Wisconsin has begun executing BEAD grant agreements: about 70 grant offers have been sent and 25 agreements were fully executed, representing “just under $200,000,000” in funding, a PSC broadband office official said.

That update prefaced a four-person industry panel that urged continued private investment and targeted state policies to reduce deployment costs and raise adoption. Chad Young, chief executive officer of Norvado, described his company as “a community based provider” whose owners are customers and said providers see clear local economic benefits from broadband expansion. "Our owners are our customers," he said.

Alyssa from the PSC, who leads the state's broadband office, said the 25 fully executed BEAD awards do not mean construction starts immediately: recipients still must complete environmental and historic-preservation reviews before work begins. "A fully executed agreement does not mean a shovel hits the ground the next day," she said, adding that some awardees are still in legal review and that the PSC has sent agreements to about 70 of 126 BEAD projects approved for Wisconsin.

Panelists repeatedly pointed to affordability as a structural barrier to adoption. Smaller providers and municipal systems said federal programs such as the Affordable Connectivity Program (ACP) helped lift take-up but are no longer available in the same form. "ACP was nice," said Keith John, owner of Ethoplex and Wisconsin coordinator for WISPA, adding that small operators struggle to find return on investment when offering lower-cost plans without grant support.

Several providers said state policy can blunt cost pressures that otherwise raise prices. Tom Moore, executive director of the Wisconsin Cable Communications Association, urged caution about price controls and emphasized continued network investment, saying, "Doing harm would be, some type of price controls. Price controls scare away investment, and they dry up broadband expansion." Moore also highlighted large carriers' network-evolution projects and argued that continued private upgrades are a central part of future-proofing service.

Speakers flagged permitting and relocation costs associated with public-works projects as recurring, high-dollar obstacles. "We are one of the highest states in the country" for the cost of pulling and relocating working broadband during public-works projects, Moore said, and other providers urged creating state mechanisms to reimburse providers for that work or otherwise reduce municipal permit fees.

Municipal providers described a different cost profile. Brett Chubbner, general manager of the Reedsburg Utility Commission, said municipal utilities reinvest revenues into plant and operations and face capital-recovery pressures that drive careful rate-setting. "Any revenues we take in basically goes back into providing services to our customers or to building new plant," Chubbner said.

Panelists also discussed workforce and adoption. Companies described on-the-job technician training, veteran recruitment and tuition-reimbursement programs as key recruitment strategies; on adoption, providers described outreach through libraries, in-person installs that include user education, digital-literacy grants and localized customer onboarding.

The session closed with broad agreement that Wisconsin has made progress on deployment and that continuing public–private collaboration, streamlined permitting, and targeted state supports to reduce provider expenses would help close remaining gaps. The task force will include recommendations in its annual report to the governor and legislature, due at the end of June, and will meet next on May 20.