Gov. Evers, PSC Announce Release of 2025 Governor’s Task Force on Broadband Access Annual Report

MADISON — Gov. Tony Evers today, together with the Public Service Commission of Wisconsin (PSC), announced the release of the Governor’s Task Force on Broadband Access’ fifth annual report. Building upon findings from the previous task force reports, the 2025 report provides an update on achievements under Gov. Evers and the Evers Administration to expand access, adoption, and affordability of high-speed internet across Wisconsin. The fifth annual report also makes recommendations for state investments in state broadband programs while prioritizing workforce development initiatives, making permitting and locating reforms, and advancing efforts to improve internet affordability and digital skills training.

“Access to affordable, high-speed internet is a necessity in the 21st Century—not a luxury, and I’m proud of the important progress my administration has made in closing the digital divide to get folks, families, and businesses connected, but there is much more work to do,” said Gov. Evers. “Whether running a business, doing homework, talking to your doctor, or staying connected to friends and family, the digital divide is holding our state back. We must do more to ensure Wisconsinites—no matter where they live—have access to affordable, high-speed internet, and I want to thank the PSC and this Task Force for outlining these important steps and priorities to continue moving toward the future of connectivity Wisconsin needs and deserves.”

Since 2019, Gov. Evers has allocated more than $345 million in state and federal funds to expand high-speed internet, including the state’s largest-ever investment in broadband expansion, which will help more than 410,000 homes and businesses access new or improved broadband. In the last year alone, broadband availability improved significantly across the state, with 93,000 previously unserved locations receiving access to high-speed internet service and 163,000 households and businesses receiving new access to fiber internet service.

Additionally, through these efforts, the broadband adoption rate in Wisconsin, meaning the number of households with internet subscriptions, has reached over 89 percent—the highest it has ever been. Further, over 88 percent of Wisconsin households and businesses have access to high-speed broadband of 100/20 Mbps or faster, and the number of unserved locations in Wisconsin has decreased by 28 percent in the last year.

“I am grateful and appreciative of the vision, participation, and collaboration put forth by Task Force members and stakeholders in preparing the 2025 annual report, which highlights our state’s progress to improve internet access, affordability, and adoption under Gov. Evers’ leadership,” said PSC Chairperson Summer Strand. “This report includes crucial recommendations to mitigate the risks of recent federal changes and to expedite the availability of affordable, reliable internet service for all Wisconsinites. It is incumbent on our state leaders to heed this call and implement the Task Force’s recommendations in order to avoid these obstacles and continue progress on our shared broadband goals.”

Improvements from 2024 to 2025 are driven in large part by historic investments in broadband expansion under the two largest grant rounds in PSC’s history: $100 million awarded in 2021 under the American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) Broadband Access Program, which was allocated by Gov. Evers to prioritize broadband spending; and $125 million awarded in 2022 under the State Broadband Expansion Program. A majority of the projects awarded through these programs have helped connect approximately 63,000 new households since 2024.

Gov. Evers’ administration has done more to expand access to high-speed internet than any other administration in state history, and although great progress has been made to connect more Wisconsin homes and businesses to high-speed internet, more work remains. According to the most recent estimates from the PSC’s Wisconsin Broadband Office, 39 percent of Wisconsinites lack access to affordable internet and 262,000 locations, or 11.4 percent of locations, are considered unserved in Wisconsin as of December 2024.

The task force’s recommendations to the governor and the Wisconsin State Legislature in its 2025 annual report include but are not limited to:

• Investing additional state budget funding for broadband expansion to ensure all Wisconsinites have access to high-speed internet;
• Prioritizing the deployment of fiber technology where practicable and other quality technology solutions in harder to reach areas;
• Collaborating with infrastructure owners, Diggers Hotline, internet service providers, and utility locators to ensure streamlined and timely locating processes to avoid delays in broadband deployment and construction;
• Investing in and supporting comprehensive, statewide workforce development efforts, youth apprenticeships, worker training programs, and awareness campaigns to ensure a sufficient, skilled workforce for broadband deployment, operation, and maintenance;
• Advocating for the development and implementation of state-level solutions to maintain broadband affordability for low-income households following the end of the Affordable Connectivity Program; and
• Improving digital literacy and cybersecurity awareness by educating and empowering Wisconsinites to use digital skills and artificial intelligence responsibly, effectively, and in ways that improve their lives.

In his 2025-27 Executive Budget, Gov. Evers recommended allocating $400 million in the state’s Broadband Expansion Grant Program, which works to provide or improve broadband internet in unserved areas across the state. Unfortunately, earlier this month, the Republican-controlled Joint Finance Committee removed these provisions from the governor’s budget and approved $0 new funding for broadband expansion, despite the governor urging Republicans to approve substantial state budget investments to continue expanding high-speed internet across Wisconsin as the Trump Administration announced sweeping new changes to the BEAD Program, effectively further delaying Wisconsin’s progress to bring affordable, high-speed internet to homes and businesses across the state.

This is the second consecutive budget cycle that Republican lawmakers have rejected investments in the state’s Broadband Expansion Grant Program. In the 2023-25 biennial budget process, Republican lawmakers voted against a $750 million investment that Gov. Evers proposed to expand high-speed internet and instead approved $0 new state dollars to expand broadband. At the time, Republicans cited an influx of federal investments Wisconsin expected to receive as their justification—investments including, for example, the BEAD Program that the Trump Administration is now delaying.

Gov. Evers created the Task Force on Broadband Access through Executive Order #80 in July 2020 to advise the governor and Legislature on broadband actions, policies, and strategies to successfully expand high-speed internet in Wisconsin. Since its inception, the Task Force has brought together a diverse group of members with experience in this field to learn from outside experts, hear from the public, and identify forward-looking broadband policies and initiatives that aim to close the digital divide in the state.

The 2025 report is available here.

More information about the Governor’s Task Force on Broadband Access, including previous reports, can be found on the PSC website here.

NOTE: This press release was submitted to Urban Milwaukee and was not written by an Urban Milwaukee writer. While it is believed to be reliable, Urban Milwaukee does not guarantee its accuracy or completeness.