By Lynn Binnie
Whitewater Banner volunteer staff
whitewaterbanner@gmail.com
A previous article in the Banner indicated that TDS Telecom (TDS), which is headquartered in Madison, had announced at the September 6 meeting of the Whitewater Common Council that the company has plans to bury a 56 mile digital fiber network that would allow it to serve 98% of the city with internet, television, and phone service. The company stated that symmetrical internet speeds for their residential service start at 300 MB x 300 MB and are offered up to 2Gig. Up to 10Gig is dedicated to business customers. Spectrum is currently the only residential high speed broadband and cable TV provider in the city. It does not have a fiber network here. According to Spectrum’s website, its current maximum internet speed is 1Gig.
No timeline for construction and introduction of service was provided by TDS in the September meeting. Connections to service would be offered on an area by area basis as the installation proceeds. TDS recently built out a fiber network in Sun Prairie, with population over 35,000, in 16 months. Installation of fiber networks is currently underway in Janesville and Fort Atkinson.
The initial commencement of the TDS network installation in Whitewater is evidenced by signs such as the one above that have recently been placed in the area of Blooming Field Drive, Foxglove Lane, and Walton Drive. The Banner is not aware that TDS has made any announcement regarding the timeline for completion of their network and availability of services. However, when an address in the area of the initial construction is entered on their website, a prospective customer is told that “Services are estimated to launch in your neighborhood in Summer 2023.”
TDS encourages individuals who know that they will be interested in their service(s) to register on this website. A $25 deposit is required, which will ultimately be applied to a customer’s first billing, or be refunded if service is never made available. According to TDS, the number of registrations in a given area may influence the timing of the installation. When registering, a potential customer is also given the opportunity to select the services that they would like to purchase. Costs are shown, and in some cases there are offers for discounts and/or fixed pricing for certain terms.
