Chris Hardie: We've come a long way in rural Wisconsin ... but we're not there yet

Since then we had another time when phone service was out for more than 36 hours and internet service was out for two days. No explanation, just frustration.A few years ago legislation was passed in Wisconsin that gives phone companies an out if they no longer want to provide landline service. Yes, I understand in our cities and villages that landlines have gone the way of eight-track tapes.But in many parts of rural Wisconsin — particularly in the Driftless Region, where we have many bluffs and valleys — cell phones don’t work or are unreliable at best. Unless our mobile companies are planning to put up many more towers to guarantee coverage, we need landlines for safety.By that definition more than 40 percent of rural Wisconsin — more than 700,000 households — are in the dark. There’s a movement to increase broadband spending, but I’m concerned that many of those funds will be used to increase the speed of service in communities rather than make the effort to connect those without.Nearly a century ago technology was creating a divide between urban and rural America. History may be repeating itself.