Angry about not having high-speed Internet service, a group of rural Dane County residents have complained to the state Public Service Commission in a case that could set a precedent for other communities.

Some of those filing the complaint live on the edge of suburban Madison, one of the most Internet-wired cities in the Midwest, and they include attorneys, doctors, university professors and scientists.

In their complaint, filed this week with state regulators, they say a lack of broadband service has hindered their professional lives and lowered property values because some people won't buy homes in areas that lack high-speed Internet access.

It's an issue that irks residents in the Town of Berry and some parts of Black Earth and other rural areas less than 20 miles from the state Capitol.

"This is a rural community, but it doesn't mean we are Dogpatch or Hayseed," said Chris Arenas, who lives in Black Earth and teaches online marketing classes at Madison Area Technical College.

The complaint includes the Town of Berry, a community of about 1,124 residents that has sought broadband service for years.

Some Berry residents may have to move if they can't get high-speed Internet access, according to town officials, because their employers require them to have the service for working from home.

"Parents have told us their children are at a disadvantage by not having high-speed connections," Town Chairman Anthony Varda wrote in a recent letter to TDS Telecommunications, the town's Madison-based telephone provider.

"It is critical to the success of rural students, people working from home, and residents serving on nonprofit boards, committees and local government," wrote Varda, an attorney with DeWitt, Ross & Stevens.

In the complaint, residents say state regulations obligate TDS to provide "reasonably adequate service and facilities," including high-speed Internet.

Not providing the service "has a profound adverse impact on the quality of life, economic development and individual efficiency and productivity in the Town of Berry," the 50-page document notes.

The residents want regulators to order TDS to provide broadband access, which they would pay for. Currently, their only choices for high-speed Internet are satellite service or a cell-phone connection.

Some residents say they're paying $200 a month for Internet service that charges 50 cents a minute for exceeding a monthly time limit and is not reliable.

"If a new family is going to move here, obviously they need broadband access," said Arenas, one of the complainants.

TDS has 20 days to respond, according to state regulators. It could be months before the agency makes a ruling.

TDS says it offers broadband to 94% of its customers nationwide, including customers who live at the bottom of the Grand Canyon and in rural Dane County.

But it has not made the service available to the complaining residents because they live in a sparsely populated area where it would be too expensive to install the cable for such a small number of customers.

The company has offered them dial-up Internet access, which is much slower than broadband and can't handle heavy downloads of photos and graphics.

"I am tremendously sympathetic … but the unfortunate situation is they live in a very isolated pocket. It is the most difficult conversation we have with customers," said TDS spokesman Andrew Petersen.

About 80% of Wisconsin residents have access to some type of broadband through cable television providers or telephone companies, according to industry figures. But coverage gaps in rural areas are a problem as businesses and individuals routinely use the Internet.

The federal economic stimulus bill includes $7.2 billion in grants, loans and loan guarantees to extend broadband to underserved rural areas. But locally, telecom providers say they have not had much success getting the money.

TDS was not able to get stimulus money for bringing broadband to the complaining Dane County residents because the Town of Berry was not considered rural enough. It also was not eligible for help because 98% of the residents in surrounding areas have access to broadband, according to TDS.

Normally, the Public Service Commission does not dictate where telephone companies must provide broadband. Should the agency order TDS to provide the service to the complaining residents, it could set a precedent for other rural communities.

Legally, it's a step the PSC may be hesitant to take, said Barry Orton, a telecommunications professor at University of Wisconsin-Madison.

"But it is an argument that is absolutely important to make. The PSC can't just dismiss this out of hand," Orton said.

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Why not?

TDS Telecommunications says the complaining residents live in a sparsely populated area where it would be too expensive to install the cable for such a small number of customers.