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September 29, 2025
ST. CROIX COUNTY – Baldwin LightStream is celebrating 125 years of service, which Office Manager JohAnna Diener said marks a major milestone in its mission to keep St. Croix County and surrounding communities connected.
Founded in 1900 as the Baldwin Telephone Exchange, Diener said the company has grown alongside the region it serves – evolving from a local switchboard operation into a modern provider of high-speed internet, phone and digital services.
In 1961, Baldwin LightStream, she said, was the first phone service provider in the state to have all buried cable.
Twenty-one years later, Diener said it established a cable television system in Baldwin, which was later extended to Woodville and Hammond.
In 1983, the business changed its name to Baldwin Telecom, Inc., she said, to reflect this expansion of services.
The internet age drove a whole new level of disruption to the industry, Diener – who has been with Baldwin LightStream for more than a decade – said, and by 1995, Baldwin Telecom was adding internet service to its docket.
Despite its smaller size, Diener said Baldwin LightStream has been a leader in advancing how internet service is delivered.
As demand grew for faster, more secure connections, she said the company made a strategic shift to fiber-optic technology, rolling out “fiber-to-the-premise” service to bring high-speed internet directly to homes and businesses.
That forward-thinking approach, Diener said, earned Baldwin LightStream national recognition in 2002 – recognized by the USDA as the first independent telephone company in Wisconsin to deliver this service in residential areas.
That recognition, she said, was just the beginning.
Four years later, Diener said Baldwin Telecom became the first telecommunications company in the State of Wisconsin to secure a broadband loan from the USDA’s Rural Utilities Service
The loan, she said, allowed for the extension of fiber optics to homes in Hudson.
As the business’s portfolio of services grew and the company’s focus continued to evolve, Diener said in 2015, the decision was made to change the company’s name to Baldwin LightStream – with the motto of “Communicating at the Speed of Light.”
Today, 125 years since its official launch, Diener said the company serves more than 9,000 subscribers.
Diener said the company celebrated its 125th birthday last month by bringing the community together for lunch, games for kids and a chance to win prizes.
“It was a lovely day with 250-300 people here,” she said.
Faster speeds, stronger connections
Diener said the anniversary also marked a technological milestone for the company.
“As of this year, we have become 100% fiber optic – which coincided nicely with our 125th,” she said.
For customers, Diener said the transition to a 100% fiber network has meant a noticeable boost in reliability and performance.
“Customers aren’t having dropped services,” she said. “They’re seeing faster speeds. So, that has been a great change for us.”
Diener said fiber optic cable uses thin, flexible glass fibers to transmit digital data with pulses of light, versus the older DSL technology, which uses copper wires.
Along with much faster internet speed, Diener said the use of fiber optic cable enables Baldwin LightStream to expedite service delivery.
“In the home, we install what’s called an optical network terminal, which connects to [a subscriber’s router],” she said. “Now, when customers move in and out of their homes, the terminal stays at the home, and we just have to connect [to the new router]. It makes our installs much quicker, allowing us to help more customers in a timely manner.”
Change hasn’t been limited to the internet side, Diener said, as television viewing habits have also shifted dramatically in recent years.
“We no longer have the traditional cable boxes and our TV services are delivered through a streaming app,” she said. “Our customers get a Fire Stick, then download our app to stream channels. That’s a huge change.”
Diener said customers still have access to the same channel lineup, but no longer need traditional cable boxes.
“They don’t have to switch between streaming devices in their cable box,” she said. “They can just stay all on one platform. They’re very happy with the change.”
Diener said this service from Baldwin LightStream is called NimBL Live TV, which is available via the MyTVs App.
“They’re not having to change the input on their TV,” she said. “We make sure when we go to their homes and set the service up for them that it’s bookmarked for them, so they don’t have to go searching for it.”
Diener said Baldwin LightStream understood that many of its older customers could find technology-related changes challenging, so the team prioritized education and preparation to ensure a smooth transition.
“We held informational meetings in three different towns that we service, where we did a live demo for them – answering any questions they had,” she said. “We also went to every single customer’s house. We helped them make that change. It took a long time, several months, but we launched NimBL Live TV in October 2022.”
Diener said the launch was positively received, as some of its more tech-savvy customers were able to independently add new devices and manage recordings remotely.
Anticipating, adapting to future demands
Diener said the Baldwin LightStream team fully anticipates the future of internet delivery to keep evolving, with changes likely driven more by user demands for faster speeds and better connectivity than by infrastructure upgrades.
“They call fiber ‘future-proof,’ so I think change will be driven by user demands versus infrastructure,” she said. “People will be looking for value-added services from their providers.”
Building on that focus, Diener said one of the value-added services Baldwin LightStream offers is related to home security.
“About two years ago, we started offering our customers home security cameras, which include doorbell cameras, indoor and outdoor cameras, as well as an above-garage spotlight camera,” she said. “People can package these services along with their internet, TV and phone.”
To enhance customer experience, Diener said the Baldwin LightStream crew installs and maintains the systems, saving customers from the hassle of figuring it out on their own.
Diener said the company also offers a full range of communications services to businesses, including security, internet, phone, wireless landline, ethernet, hosting services and off-site data storage.
“We are just as competitive, if not more competitive than the larger providers in our area,” she said. “We’ve pivoted to hosting phone systems on the cloud, which allows businesses to connect in multiple locations, even if they’re not in our service area.”
Changing work trends – driven largely by the COVID-19 pandemic – Diener said, have accelerated the company’s growth as remote work gains popularity and more people relocate to less crowded areas like St. Croix County.
“Our St. Croix Economic Development Corporation just did a really good housing study on our area, and we are seeing great growth,” she said. “We have people from the Twin Cities metro area who are relocating here across the border, and we’re able to provide the service they need in a rural area – a good, reliable connection, while they can enjoy the benefits of living in smaller, rural communities.”
Though much has changed since the company began as a telephone exchange 125 years ago – when switchboard operators manually connected calls – Diener said Baldwin LightStream’s commitment to community remains steadfast.
“We focus on supporting the youth in our communities and families in our communities,” she said. “We sponsor academic, sporting and technology-related programs, partnering with our local schools and organizations such as chambers of commerce, the Family Resource Center, Lions Club and Junior Achievement. We also donate our services to area schools, EMT, fire halls, senior centers and similar groups.”
For more on Baldwin LightStream and its 125-year history, visit baldwinlightstream.com.
