Alliant Energy has partnered with Comelec Internet Services, a local internet provider based in Dubuque, Iowa, to expand high-speed internet services to the Village of Hazel Green, a rural community near the Wisconsin-Illinois border.

Through this partnership, the strands of fiber the two companies have underground will be connected. Comelec will lease the fiber-optic strands and then provide internet access, with download and upload speeds of up to 1,000 megabytes-per-second, to nearly 550 households and businesses. Many of the customers who will receive the new high-speed internet connection currently rely on other means to access broadband or go without broadband connections.

Construction to connect underground fiber-optic lines that will provide fast, reliable internet service will begin in spring 2023. High-speed internet service should be available to residents and businesses of the Village of Hazel Green in summer 2023.

“This new partnership is a significant milestone toward eliminating the digital divide that’s adversely impacting many residents in rural areas with low to moderate incomes,” says David de Leon, president of Alliant Energy's Wisconsin energy company. “This is an important step to overcoming the divide.”

This is one of several middle-mile broadband projects and partnerships undertaken by Alliant Energy to close the digital divide. Earlier this summer, the company partnered with Mt. Horeb Telephone Company to expand high-speed internet service to nearly 150 households and businesses in Hollandale, Wisc. Alliant Energy also donates computers to local organizations through its TechRefresh program. It has donated nearly 100 computers to agencies across Wisconsin and Iowa, including to the Hazel Green library and first responders.

More information about Alliant Energy’s efforts to close the digital divide can be found at alliantenergy.com/broadband.

Tags : Customer Solutions, All