"To grow our entire state economy, we must work from region to region and develop efforts tailored to local communities," Doyle said. "For businesses, entrepreneurs and families to be successful, they need access to cell phone and high-speed Internet access."

A release issued by the Doyle administration this week said the tax credits will leverage broadband equipment investments from nine companies. The administration estimated that CenturyTel alone would account for $62.8 million in broadband investments.

In Massachusetts, meanwhile, the top official at the Telecommunications and Cable Department discussed details of her state's broadband expansion program with the Boston Globe.

Department chief Sharon Gillett, who was appointed by Democratic Gov. Deval Patrick this past spring, told the newspaper that improving broadband access in the Bay State is one of her top priorities. She said the $25 million incentive plan recently released by Patrick will play an integral role in making that happen.

Under Patrick's plan, public bonds will be used to purchase broadband infrastructure, such as wireless towers. The Patrick administration said it will select private partners to implement parts of the project, and the initiative also will make it more cost-effective for companies to enter underserved markets.

Gillett told the Globe that the general idea is to make it easier for private providers to come in and "do the rest of the job" of expanding broadband accessibility. But she also said it is important that communities retain the rights to own and operate their own broadband networks if companies do not want to come to them.

The Massachusetts Legislature is considering a proposal that would make it easier for video service providers to enter local markets by allowing them to apply for statewide franchises. Supporters of the legislation, including Verizon Communications, have advertised it as a way to promote more competition in those markets. Gillett did not comment on the bill.

County officials in one of Florida's most populated areas, meanwhile, said this week that technical glitches have delayed the implementation of a wireless broadband project there.

A spokeswoman for Miami-Dade County Mayor Carlos Alvarez told the Miami Herald that he is considering scaling back the broadband initiative to only cover the most densely populated areas. The Herald reported that county officials hit a roadblock in deploying the network when they recently discovered that sign posts were too short to be equipped with transmitters.