Oneida county is making sure its name is in the mix when new state funding for faster internet is available.
The Board of Supervisors approved sending a letter to state broadband funders saying the county is working hard to get more service to rural areas.
Dave Noel from the Oneida County Broadband Development Committee said current providers were not interested in expanding service four years ago. He says a local company, Northwoods Connect was interested and uses fixed wireless delivery.
The committee landed $180,000 and is moving forward with developing service...
"....the system as I said has seven operational sites today, we've got six that are in process...I know of at least three of those are ready to go, so they are signing up customers today. Those are the two in Three Lakes and the one in north Sugar Camp...."
The signal goes out about 5 miles from the tower. Noel says they can't reach all points, but they anticipate reaching 80- 90 percent of the underserved county...
"...we have about 9,000 businesses and households within that footprint that covers about 560 miles. Northwoods Connect has almost 250 clients running on it, 34 business subscribers are resorts and campgrounds that have multiple users, etc...."
The county board approved sending a letter to state broadband funding providers saying the county will contribute money as a match and they would like to get funding to continue providing service.
