Dunn County surveying residents on broadband needs

MENOMONIE. Wis. -- Dunn County residents should look for surveys the county is sending out to determine where broadband service needs are the greatest. The surveys were sent out the week of May 7, said Dan Dunbar, Dunn County Chief Information Officer. The survey is being conducted by the Dunn County Broadband Task Force, formed this year to establish a plan to address broadband in Dunn County, including creating maps outlining county broadband projects and identifying areas of weakness.“We need to find out where the problem areas are so we can target our resources to those areas,” said Dunbar, who is also chair of the broadband task force. Residents who receive the surveys are asked to fill them out and send them back as soon as possible so the task force has reliable information on where the county needs better broadband service. Residents who don’t receive a survey can fill out an online version that can be found in the upper right corner of the county’s broadband page at bit.ly/3pmVwc4. Questions can be sent to [email protected].The task force includes representatives of K-12, municipal government, retirees, veterans, economic development and small business owners. The survey effort is part of the county seeking funding through the Public Service Commission’s Broadband Equity, Access and Deployment Local Planning Grant Program. The program allows eligible entities to receive funding for broadband planning activities to create the state’s five-year action plan that will guide the distribution of $800 million to $1.2 billion of broadband funding the state could receive from the federal government. “We really need accurate information to make our best case for state funding,” Dunbar said.