Outagamie County has 50 new miles of wireless fiber optic Internet; more to come

OUTAGAMIE COUNTY (WLUK) — Rural Outagamie County now has more high-speed internet than ever.

“In Outagamie County, what you’re talking about is partially in the Oneida Reservation, but then you’re also talking in Seymour, Black Creek and Cicero,” said Bug Tussel Director of Public Affairs Scott Feldt.

Internet provider Bug Tussel installed the 50 miles of fiber-optic cables, with about 125 miles more to install. It was subsidized by a $24 million bond from Outagamie County, which will be paid off by Bug Tussel. They’re also installing a few towers around the county.

“We have been covering several highways in Northeast Outagamie County that are going to directly affect about 700 households,” said Outagamie County Executive Tom Nelson. “And the good news is that number one, we’re making progress, but number two this is just the beginning.”

With the fiber optic cables and towers just going live, it’s too early to say how many of the 700 households will sign up. But the need is clear.

“I can’t work from home,” said Rhonda Blake, a Town of Cicero resident. “We have too many family members at home that are on their gadgets, it’s not strong enough. So we have very ‘slim pickins’ out by us because of broadband.

Her wish –

“Fiber optic. It runs out by us, but it’s about a mile away from us that they stopped from us,” said Blake.

Added Bug Tussel’s Feldt: “You’re talking about Outagamie County. You’re talking about 7000 residences that probably had little to no internet providers.

“You see Internet in the cities. You see that when they’re going to make expansions, it may just be a little bit out of the cities, but they don’t go into the rural areas.”

Feldt added it’s because it’s more profitable to create high-speed internet in the city.

“To have high-speed, reliable access to the Internet is really a given for our residents. That should be a baseline expectation that they have that accessibility,” said Kevin Englebert, Outagamie County Development and Land Services Director. “We want to be a desirable place for our businesses, for our communities. And to have that we need high-speed Internet.”

No taxpayer funds are used, only the bond that will be paid back by Bug Tussel. FOX 11 is told monthly internet prices are similar to the typical providers in the city.