Broadband access in rural Wisconsin is topic at Oct. 21 WIN-Western Wisconsin

Business leaders in western Wisconsin can learn more about issues and opportunities surrounding deployment of high-speed “broadband” Internet access at a Wednesday, Oct. 21 breakfast forum.

The event is schedule tol be held at The Orchard Banquet Facility, 571 Hwy. 63, Baldwin, which is a half-mile north of the I-94 Baldwin exit. Open for networking at 8:30 a.m. with the program will be from 9:00-11:00 a.m. The cost is $10 for general admission, $5 for WIN and Momentum West members, and free for students and WIN corporate memberships.

The program will begin with an overview from Brian Rybarik, executive assistant to Commissioner Lauren Azar of the Public Service Commission, about an interactive map produced through the LinkWISCONSIN project (www.link.wisconsin.gov). A panel of experts will discuss what tools and technology are available; what approaches, projects and initiatives are working elsewhere; how Wisconsin fared in winning a federal broadband stimulus grant; and what obstacles are preventing access for improvements.

Panelists are Tom Braml, regional manager, CenturyLink; Bill Esbeck, executive director, Wisconsin State Telecommunications Association; Mike Ehr, external affairs director, AT&T; and Thad Nation, executive director, Wired Wisconsin. Randy Hulke, director of the Discovery Center at UW-Stout, will moderate.

“While parts of the federal stimulus package are bogged in bureaucracy or targeted in ways unlikely to produce private-sector jobs, the broadband dollars appear on track to connect even the most remote parts of America, including Wisconsin, to the global economy,” said Tom Still, president of the Wisconsin Technology Council.