The Oneida County Board has seen the future, if it already isn't the present.
UW-Extension Community Resource Development Agent Tim Brown and businessman Don Sidlowski from Three Lakes presented board with what high-speed internet, or broadband will mean when fully implemented.
Rural residents have been lobbying for access to fast internet to help business and public agencies compete in an interconnected world.
At a special meeting Wednesday, Sidlowski and Brown showed the board why broadband should be a priority. Don Sidlowski...
"....the point is you wouldn't live without water, electricity and all those basic services...having broadband in 2013 isn't much different..."
Sidlowski says the technology now is changing how we communicate but speed of the Internet is making all the difference in business and information.
Brown says even as little as 10 years ago, students were lugging books. Now the classroom is fully digitized, and schools and classes don't always exist in a building...
"....there were big, thick books and if you wanted to study you had to gather around a table. Now, people have computers they take everywhere. Lectures are made available on line. Textbooks are completely digital...."
The county Technology committee sponsored the presentation and will provide the county board with a number of proposals to consider to further broadband in the county.
