Waukon residents and businesses should be receiving mailed survey in the next few weeks regarding improved broadband services

Waukon Broadband Committee seeking public input

Some time ago, the City of Waukon formed a Broadband Committee to investigate opportunities for providing improved broadband services within the city. The committee is comprised of representatives from the Waukon City Council, local businesses and homeowners.

In the course of the committee’s work, they were approached by representatives of Allamakee-Clayton Electric Cooperative about the possibility of providing such services. The Cooperative has been involved in providing broadband service within the rural areas around Waukon for the past several years and has built out a fiber and wireless infrastructure to support those areas.

“Considering the proximity of Waukon to those facilities, the Cooperative’s expansion into Waukon may be a good fit with their overall business strategy,” the Waukon Broadband Committee shared in a released statement. “The Committee has, therefore, engaged in discussions with the Cooperative about that possibility.”

According to the committee, the first step in determining feasibility of this project is to conduct a survey of all the residents and businesses within the city. Within the next few weeks, residential and business mailboxes and post office boxes within the Waukon city limits will receive a survey in the mail. The committee says the survey should only take a few minutes to complete and would appreciate a return response of the survey at the earliest possible convenience.

There is an option to take the survey online, and that link will be listed at the top of the mailed survey. As an added incentive for participation in this survey, the committee will draw three names from the responses received and award prizes of Waukon Bucks to each winner.

At this time, the committee does not know specifics about the service that is being proposed. It will include package options with varying download speeds of up to 100 Mbps, unlimited data usage and a voice-over-internet telephone option. The exact technology to be used is still under review and final determination will depend in part on support as measured by this survey response.

“High speed, reliable and affordable internet service is rapidly becoming an economic necessity for communities like ours,” shared the Waukon Broadband Committee. “It will help our rural community remain vibrant and thrive into the future. We look forward to your thoughtful response and appreciate your time and participation in this survey.”

For any questions regarding the survey, contact Ardie Kuhse at 563-568-2624 or by email at wedc4u@gmail.com.