Katherine Desch works at a loan processing center on the Flambeau Lake Reservation in Vilas County.  The center's work is supported by high-speed internet service, creating jobs, but parts of the reserve and surrounding areas still struggle with no broadband connection.

The Lac du Flambeau tribe in northern Wisconsin is building their own internet

Katherine Desch works at a loan processing center on the Flambeau Lake Reservation in Vilas County.  The center's work is supported by high-speed internet service, creating jobs, but parts of the reserve and surrounding areas still struggle with no broadband connection.

LAC DU FLAMBEAU – Frustrated by the poor internet service from this part of Wisconsin’s only commercial provider, tribal officials at Lac du Flambeau decided to build and operate their own internet.

“During COVID, it’s been sticking out like a sore thumb,” said Dion Reynolds, chief operating officer of Lac du Flambeau.

When people were forced to work and go to school from home at the start of the pandemic, many people on the reservation found they couldn’t even email because of spotty internet service.

Reynolds said tribal officials first contacted the only internet provider in rural northern Wisconsin.

But he said the company had no plan to address the situation and he did not believe the reservation was a priority service area for the company.

The 86,600-acre reservation is primarily in Vilas County in northern Wisconsin.

Wisconsin: Lac du Flambeau • Median household income: $23,209 (Wisconsin: $63,293) • Adults with at least a bachelor's degree: 13.7% (Wisconsin: 30.8%) • Poverty rate: 32, 4% (Wisconsin: 11.0%) • Median home value: $75,300 (Wisconsin: $189,200) • Population: 1,737

Reynolds said the industry standard for the Internet is to have at least 25 megabytes of download speed and three megabytes of upload speed, and the service on the reservation falls far short of that.

“The majority of our members aren’t able to hit those speeds,” Reynolds said. “Some are close to dial-up speeds.”

He said many people on the Lac du Flambeau reserve simply use their mobile phones as a mobile hotspot to connect.


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