BTOP Grant for Illinois

The Department of Commerce's National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) announced an $11.9 million American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (Recovery Act) investment to help bridge the technological divide, boost economic growth, create jobs, and improve education and health care in DeKalb County and portions of LaSalle County, Illinois. Assistant Secretary for Communications and Information and NTIA Administrator Lawrence E. Strickling announced the $11.9 million broadband infrastructure grant for the DeKalb Advancement of Technology Authority Broadband project during an event today with Governor Pat Quinn and U.S. Rep. Bill Foster. This investment will enable the deployment of a 130-mile fiber network across DeKalb County and northern LaSalle County, providing high-speed Internet connections to at least 60 anchor institutions, such as schools, hospitals, libraries, public safety entities, and numerous government agencies.

The project will also:

• Provide network speeds between 10 Mbps to 10 Gbps, enabling connected anchor institutions and other local Internet service providers to extend service to underserved households and businesses in the area.
• Connect local municipalities to one another and provide backbone infrastructure for emergency services and disaster recovery.
• Connect to the Illinois Rural HealthNet, allowing medical facilities connected to this project to collaborate with specialists at larger facilities throughout the state and nation.