Walker's Republican Profiteers Feed Telecom's Loads of Taxpayer Money, Doom Current Efficient System.

The Republican Joint Finance Committee decided to get rid of $30 million in grants to expand high speed internet services. These are services corporate America doesn’t see profitable enough yet to build out too. And in the case of school districts, universities and libraries, they’ll have to pay market prices, which could be triple the current rates.  

Senator Kathleen Vinehout: “Budget writers slipped in an amendment restricting the state’s ability to accept or award funds or in anyway assist in the planning of the expansion of high speed internet to rural Wisconsin,” said Senator Vinehout.  … This bill makes government’s agreement with WiscNet, a non profit organization providing public internet, impossible. For twenty years school districts, local government, universities, libraries and non profit hospitals have relied on this arrangement for high quality low cost high speed internet access.

And the likely effect:

“Local officials will see costs triple if this bill becomes law,” Vinehout announced. “Residents in rural areas need the same access to high speed internet as our city cousins.”
 

If schools and rural areas need high speed internet access, they can wait for it, and pay higher prices for it when they are lucky enough be worth adding to some corporations bottom line.