Town resident: Why no high-speed Internet or state news?

Talk about it

Clifton resident Stuart Henning can't believe it. He asked the Town Board at its regular meeting Aug. 2: "Where's the Wisconsin news?" Henning also asked board members why either DIRECTV or AT&T doesn't provide high-speed Internet service to the town of Clifton.

Henning told board members they should circulate a survey and use it to apply pressure on DIRECTV and AT&T to bring high-speed Internet to Clifton.

Clifton Town Board Chairman Leroy Peterson said a telecommunications giant like AT&T will only provide Internet DSL (digital data transmission through a telephone network) to rural areas if it can be done profitably.

"Living in the country we don't have all the amenities of living in the city," Peterson told Henning.

Peterson said that last year Pierce County was trying to apply for a grant to finance a wireless, countywide system that required the building of towers to transmit signals.

Peterson didn't have an update on that project. Clifton is in Pierce County.

Town Clerk Judy Clement-Lee said that two years ago, Clifton residents Russell Jacques and Evan Varga petitioned AT&T to provide Internet DSL to the town. Clement-Lee said the couple finally gave up.

Henning, saying he was tired of Minnesota news from the Twin Cities, said he was also interested in having satellite-TV carriers offer Eau Claire TV news for western Wisconsin residents: "It would be nice to get something from Madison now and then."

Town Board Supervisor Greg Eggers encouraged Henning to form a group and begin exploring how to make Internet DSL a reality in Clifton.

For more on this story, please see the Aug. 10 print edition of the River Falls Journal.

Tags: clifton, government, technology