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Connect Illinois
Content tagged with "Connect Illinois"
Join Us Thursday, February 24th at 5pm ET, For An Inside Look at State Broadband Offices - Episode 34 of the Connect This! Show!
In this episode of the Connect This! Show, co-hosts Christopher and Travis Carter (USI Fiber) are joined by Peggy Schaffer (ConnectME) and Matt Schmit (Connect Illinois) for a closer look at state broadband offices.
The panel will dig into state grant opportunities, what broadband offices look for in partnerships, and how states are getting creative to support ISPs that connect underserved communities.
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It’s Not a Rural Broadband Challenge, It’s a Statewide Broadband Challenge - Episode 489 of the Community Broadband Bits Podcast
This week on the podcast, Christopher is joined by Matt Schmit, Director of the Illinois Office of Broadband and Chair of Illinois Broadband Advisory Council. During the conversation, the two discuss Illinois’ $420 million investment in broadband infrastructure as part of the Connect Illinois Broadband Grant program, the challenges in and solutions to both rural and urban settings, and how the Illinois Connected Communities program has helped at all stages of the process. Christopher and Matt also talk about state goals with the new federal money on the way, and the innovation in models, financing, and deployment we’re likely to see with the influx of spending in the near future.
This show is 46 minutes long and can be played on this page or via Apple Podcasts or the tool of your choice using this feed.
Transcript below.
We want your feedback and suggestions for the show-please e-mail us or leave a comment below.
Listen to other episodes here or view all episodes in our index. See other podcasts from the Institute for Local Self-Reliance here.
Thanks to Arne Huseby for the music. The song is Warm Duck Shuffle and is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution (3.0) license.
Decatur, Illinois Continues to Expand Its Institutional Network
Decatur, Illinois (pop. 71,000) is moving forward with an Institutional Network (I-Net) expansion that will connect 11 school districts and 3 firehouses to its growing fiber-optic backbone, connecting potential commercial and industry customers along the way.
The city of Decatur has been expanding its fiber network since 2014, when it decided to deploy a backbone network connecting several of its facilities. This most recent expansion will extend the access to Franklin and Parsons schools, Stephen Decatur Middle School, Eisenhower and MacArthur high schools, American Dreamer STEM Academy, Dennis Lab School, Hope Academy, Johns Hill Magnet School and William Harris Learning Academy.
The expansion is the result of a 5-0 city council vote in April approving a $915,000 contract with Bodine Electric to purchase and hang 144 strand fiber-optic cable.
A portion of the funding for the contract will come from a $800,000 grant from the Connect Illinois grant program, an initiative aimed at expanding broadband access. The program launched in 2019 with $420-million investment in broadband infrastructure. The first round of grants totaled $50 million with a combined $9.25 million going to monopoly ISPs CenturyLink, MediaCom, Spectrum, and Comcast and the rest going to local ISPs and city and county governments.
The remaining $115,000 allocated in the contract will come from the state’s portion of the American Rescue Plan fund.
While the city will fund the expansion of the backbone to pass by the schools and connect the firehouses, Decatur Public Schools (DPS) will also contribute $600,000 to connect the schools to the street fiber. The contribution is also from the Connect Illinois Grant Program.
When the state grants came through, the city and DPS saw an opportunity to collaborate.