Paul International Airport, the Journal Sentinel found. SpaceX was awarded an annual subsidy to bring broadband to parking lots near the Mall of America and to serve the Minneapolis-St. Questionable grants revealedĮarly on, the Rural Digital Opportunity Fund was criticized for allocating hundreds of millions of dollars to questionable sites.Ī Milwaukee Journal Sentinel review of the grant awards found that billionaire Elon Musk’s SpaceX venture won subsidies for Chicago locations such as the Museum District’s Shedd Aquarium and Adler Planetarium, Grant Park, and parts of the Lincoln Park Zoo. After the expansion it will be in 67 counties, and in addition to work funded by federal grants, there are projects funded by state grants or that aren't receiving government assistance. The company says its rural area speeds are comparable with Milwaukee and other cities, and there are no modem fees, data caps or contracts.Ĭharter says it expects to connect nearly 60% of the Rural Digital Opportunity Fund locations in Wisconsin.Ĭurrently, the company has a presence in 64 of the state’s 72 counties.

Also, the agency says about 85% will get gigabit speeds of around 1,000 Mbps, more than adequate for running a small business.Ĭharter says its Spectrum Internet starts at 300 Mbps and that speeds up to a gigabit are available.

The FCC says nearly all the sites, nationwide, will get internet speeds of at least 100 megabit-per-second downloads and 20 Mbps uploads, a huge improvement for most rural areas. Broadband, a Minnesota-based service provider. Of those, the two biggest awards went to Charter and Ltd. In Wisconsin, 14 companies were awarded nearly $374 million for 240,546 locations. The $20 billion Rural Digital Opportunity Fund, unveiled in 2019, represents the Federal Communications Commission's largest investment ever to close the digital divide. “I take tremendous pride in what we’re doing,” Brown said. Many rural families, for the first time, can now work from home, take an online class, or see a doctor over the internet.

Ispectrum high speed internet