Seneca, Ferryville to get high-speed Internet
By Ted Pennekamp
What has become known as the Seneca-Ferryville Broadband Expansion Project is now underway and is designed to significantly increase Internet speed for numerous households in those areas of Crawford County. The project also has the potential to attract businesses to the Ferryville and Seneca areas.
“The broadband access picture is improving in Crawford County,” said Crawford County Economic Development Director David Connolly, who noted that residential and business customers around Prairie du Chien and through central Crawford County already have high speed broadband available. The northwest part of the county, including Gays Mills and Soldiers Grove, is also especially well served with very fast broadband. However, in other areas, service deficits remain due to the costs of installing adequate broadband facilities.
“The Seneca-Ferryville Broadband Expansion Project is a great success story that will benefit approximately 225 households, opening up service through direct access to fiber optic broadband connection,” said Connolly. “The project will improve service in the village of Ferryville as well as the towns of Seneca and Freeman.”
The bid for the construction portion of the project was awarded to Holtger Brothers Inc. on Aug. 3. Holtger Brothers is a utility contractor headquartered in De Pere. Connolly said the project is scheduled to be completed by Sept. 26. Telephone USA of Wisconsin and CenturyLink will provide the broadband and voice components in the project.
This project requires the placement of six miles of fiber optic cable from the Seneca central office to the Ferryville service device and provides updated electronics at the serving device. The project will provide up to 40 megabits per second (Mbps) at the service device. Currently, the speed is 1.5 Mbps. The broadband service speed to the customer depends upon how close they are located to the serving device. The shorter the distance, the higher the available broadband speed.
The total cost of the project is $250,000. CenturyLink received a broadband expansion grant of $200,000 from the Public Service Commission of Wisconsin. CenturyLink will fund 20 percent of the project, or $50,000.
CenturyLink received letters of support for this project from the village of Ferryville and the Crawford County Economic Development Corporation because it will aid area businesses, home businesses, and residential customers.
In his letter to the Public Service Commission (PSC), Connolly said, “Expanding broadband choice for small business has real impact. Greater use of broadband makes small businesses more productive. For service oriented firms, such an increase in productivity has been estimated to be as high as 10 percent. Access to broadband technology also lowers transaction costs and allows entry into new markets, making smaller companies more competitive. In addition, small business owners increasingly view broadband as a necessary condition to start operations in a given location.”
In its letter to the PSC, the Ferryville Village Board said the village has had contacts with various businesses that would like to locate there but the Internet speed was inadequate.
Hopefully, the Seneca-Ferryville Project will not only greatly improve Internet service for residents, but will help to increase profits for local businesses as well as attract new companies.
