Marathon Co., WI officials say long-term solution needed for people unable to call 911 during phone outages

WAUSAU, Wis. (WSAW) -- Marathon County officials say a long-term fix is needed for residents affected by extended Frontier phone service outages in the county.

Frontier Communications, representatives from Sen. Tammy Baldwin's office, and stakeholders in the phone and cell industries have been invited to attend a March infrastructure meeting to address the problem of residents who say they are left unable to call 911 in an emergency for weeks at a time when their landlines go down. In terms of long-term solutions, board members say the county-funded broadband plan unveiled by Design Nine last month will be a key focus moving forward. The report, which found large portions of the county as "unserved" or "underserved" by high-speed internet under Federal Communications Commission definitions, included plans to reach between