Underwater Fiber Cable to Washington Island Connected!

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Cellcom’s Middle-Mile Fiber Network Extends to Island; Fiber-to-the-Home Connections from Washington Island Electric Cooperative Coming Soon

Washington Island, WI (October 25, 2022) – Washington Island is on its way to becoming a Gig Island. Cellcom, an Nsight company, in partnership with Washington Island Electric Cooperative, Inc. (WIEC), has completed the middle-mile fiber connection to Washington Island crossing under the water of Death’s Door where Lake Michigan and Green Bay meet. This crucial connection will power the fiber-to-the-home (FTTH) network delivered by WIEC. By the end of the project every home, business and anchor institution on the island will have access to speeds of 1 gigabit per second (1000 Mbps) with future expansion possible.

In 2018, Cellcom completed a multi-year project to install fiber optic cable throughout Door County, known as middle-mile fiber. This base infrastructure is necessary to connect fiber to homes and businesses. Cellcom also leverages this network for cellular service. Fiber to cell towers, including the tower on Washington Island, allows for faster speeds and more connections and will make way for the robust enhancements planned for wireless service in the future on Washington Island, Rock Island and throughout the county. This will benefit residents and the tens of thousands of visitors each year.

The middle-mile fiber network spans from Brussels to Gills Rock and crisscrosses the peninsula on the way up. The route initially stopped short of traveling underwater to Washington Island.

“Cellcom specializes in serving rural communities, including challenging areas. Middle-mile fiber construction in Door County was an immense undertaking. Our team went the extra mile to preserve landscapes and work through the rocky terrain. Getting to Gills Rock and turning up fiber in the largely rural county was a huge success but bringing fiber to Washington Island has long been an aspiration for our company,” said Brighid Riordan, CEO of Cellcom.

Washington Island previously relied solely on a microwave connection (a type of wireless delivery) to the mainland for landline telephone, including 911 service, and internet. The community was plagued with long-term internet outages, disruptions to essential landline phone services, insufficient internet speeds and at lack of support from the existing provider. When the underwater electrical cable serving Washington Island suffered catastrophic damage in 2018 requiring it to be replaced, WIEC and Cellcom came together to add fiber to the electrical project. The entities partnered on two broadband grants from the Public Service Commission of Wisconsin (PSC) in 2018 and 2021, which divided the costs between a large investment from Cellcom, a large investment and in-kind work from WIEC, and grant funding.

“There are key elements that make fiber projects successful, including community support and grant funding. Washington Island Electric Cooperative was passionate about the project and eager to partner to make it a reality. While bringing fiber to a rural island is fraught by challenges, it’s a necessity today for quality of life and livelihood,” said Riordan.

“The cooperative had been pursuing and advocating for better service for our island community for many years.  Our current success stemmed from a disaster which was our submarine cable failure. Cellcom invested more than funds in the project. Their engineering and grant-writing expertise were crucial to securing initial funding and ultimately providing the backhaul for the island’s internet connectivity. WIEC was fortunate to have the support of a local company who truly cared about helping our rural community. This allowed us to pursue and win additional grant funding and positions us for the future and project to serve every single home and business on Washington Island, not just picking the easy ones. In addition, the connectivity required for our project is enabling the project in Liberty Grove which emphasizes the cooperation between communities required to advance this necessary service,” said Robert Cornell, manager of WIEC.

Delivering fiber to a rural island is a historic achievement and the selection of the first customer, which will be the Washington Island School, had other ties to the past.

“Recognizing that students are our future, the school will be the first electric customer of Washington Island Electric Cooperative in 1945. While at a different location today, in a hat tip to former manager Ray Krause and the board of directors, the Washington Island School will be our first connection for fiber because that same reason is true today and this service is as vital to continued success,” said Cornell. “What started out as an idea and dream to bring high-speed broadband to the island is now a reality. Much like bringing electricity to the island, it’s truly a historic time. While we’re just getting started with the fiber-to-the-home portion of the project, this has been years in the making. It would not have been possible without Cellcom partnering to extend its middle-mile fiber network in Door County with the underwater electrical cable.”

Cellcom and the Nsight family of companies now have more than 160 route miles of fiber Door County, part of more than 4,000 route miles of network. In addition to powering the Washington Island fiber-to-the-home service, the network is the starting point for fiber projects in two other communities. The towns of Baileys Harbor and Liberty Grove are both partnering with Cellcom to build out service in the coming year. Construction of pilot projects in portions of both townships are poised to begin this fall and Baileys Harbor is in the planning phase for the project to cover every address.

“Leveraging an existing middle-mile network means this necessary layer of infrastructure for a community fiber network is already paid for, which makes best use of investments from towns and grant dollars, which are both funded by taxpayers,” said Riordan. “We are proud to utilize our expertise in Baileys Harbor, Liberty Grove and beyond as we work to bring the latest technology to communities of all sizes, by following through on commitments and making responsible and efficient-use of tax-payer funded government grants.”

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Cellcom is an innovative wireless and broadband company that operates its own regional network to provide service for its customer base throughout Wisconsin and Upper Michigan. The company is respected for its long-standing reputation of delivering extraordinary customer care and being a strong community partner. As a subsidiary of Nsight, Cellcom is part of a family of companies offering complete telecommunications services. Learn more at www.cellcom.com.

Pictured above: Brighid Riordan (CEO, Cellcom), Robert Cornell (manager, WIEC), Bob Webb (VP of IT Services and Innovative Technical Operations, Cellcom) and Rick Brooks (CTO and VP of Engineering) at the point where the underwater cable connects on the island. You can see the mainland of Door County in the background and the fiber connection in the foreground!

Media Contact:

Tammy VanDenBusch
Communications Manager
(920) 617-7107

Cindy Durand
Senior Director of Marketing Communications
(920) 617-7069