A Wisconsin Company Will Provide Drone-Powered Internet Service To Rural Northwoods Students

Rural Northwoods students who lack reliable internet at home will soon be able to connect to their school networks via a drone-powered cellular signal. A Wisconsin startup will be part of a state-funded pilot program in the Eagle River area that will test the use of drones as a way to expand internet connectivity into rural areas. It's a partnership between the new company Wisconsin Telelift and the Northland Pines School District. The drones will be fitted with cellphone towers, allowing students throughout the sprawling Northwoods district to get online, even in rural areas where cellphone service and broadband access are unavailable or unreliable. For now, the pilot project with Northland Pines has relatively modest aims. Drones will likely go up in the evenings to ensure the school's VPN networks are available to students. They can go up in the event of a snow day to help make virtual learning possible. And the pilot project will inform educators about how to make the tool effective — to test its range in the wooded areas of the Northwoods, and to find ways to make the service effective.