TDS Telecom unveiled plans to run fiber to 18 more markets in Wisconsin, stepping up its build plans for the state as competitors AT&T and Brightspeed close in.
The operator has either previously announced or started projects in 11 communities there: Altoona, Appleton, Brookfield, Chippewa Falls, Eau Claire, Green Bay, Janesville, New Berlin, Onalaska, Oshkosh and Sparta. But there is already a fiber competitor in all but three of these markets, with AT&T alone in six of them.
TDS Telecom has now lined up plans for 85,000 more passings. Specifically, it is targeting Bangor, Dodgeville, Evansville, Fitchburg, Fond du Lac, Fort Atkinson, Jefferson, Kohler, Menomonie, Milton, Mineral Point, Plymouth, Rockland, Sheboygan, Sheboygan Falls, Tomah, Watertown and West Salem. Out of the 18, only six are currently served by another fiber player. AT&T accounts for four of those.
“Wisconsin is a top priority for TDS,” the operator’s SVP of Corporate Affairs Drew Petersen said in a statement. “In the Badger State alone, TDS is investing nearly a billion of its own dollars to build state-of-the-art fiber optic networks here.”
It’s not the only one investing there. AT&T currently has fiber in more than 90 towns across Wisconsin, including TDS targets Appleton, Brookfield, Fond du Lac, Green Bay and Sheboygan.
TDS is also up against Lumen’s Quantum Fiber service in Eau Claire, Sparta, Tomah and West Salem. But Lumen is set to hand off its 21,000 fiber passings in Wisconsin to Brightspeed following the close of its sale of ILEC assets in 20 states to Brightspeed parent Apollo in Q4.
In July, Brightspeed revealed plans to significantly expand its footprint in the state, stating it would build more than 70,000 new fiber passings there by the end of 2023 and more than 150,000 in total over the next five years. The operator listed Ashland, Bayfield, Columbia, Dane, Dodge, Douglas, Grant, Green Lake, Jackson, La Crosse, Lafayette, Marinette, Monroe, Outagamie and Sauk counties as its initial targets.
Brightspeed also recently won a $1.5 million grant to cover an additional 6,100 locations in Black River Falls in Marinette county.
And while Frontier Communications hasn’t said where exactly it’s building fiber to reach a goal of 10 million passings by the end of 2025, the operator scored four grants totaling nearly $7.5 million to cover about 15,200 locations across five Wisconsin counties.
TDS is pushing to cover upwards of 60% of its footprint with fiber by 2026 but faces stiff competition as others announce their own expansions. Last month, TDS announced plans to tackle 15,000 passings in Idaho as Lumen, Google Fiber and Ziply Fiber eye the state.