Through its many outreach and planning efforts throughout the state, the PSC's Wisconsin Broadband Office encourages broadband development and deployment by certifying local communities as being Broadband Forward!. A Broadband Forward! Community Certification signals that a local unit of government has taken steps to reduce obstacles to broadband infrastructure investment.  The PSC has created a model ordinance that satisfies the minimum requirements under Wis. Stat. § 196.504 to assist communities in this effort. Per Wis. Stat. § 196.504(9)(b), “if the commission develops a model ordinance under par. (a) and a political subdivision enacts a different ordinance that complies with sub. (5), the political subdivision shall, when applying for certification under sub. (4), provide the commission with a written statement that describes the ordinance and how the ordinance differs from the model ordinance.” If the political subdivision determines that the ordinance is the same (other than non-substantive stylistic differences) as the model ordinance, the political subdivision should make a note to that effect in the written statement.

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