Matt Schmit

The Connect Illinois program launched in 2019, pairing the then-largest state matching grant program for broadband expansion -- the $400 million Connect Illinois Broadband Grant Program - - with an appropriately ambitious commitment to digital equity and inclusion. The investment also included $20 million to enable the existing 2,100-mile Illinois Century Network to provide all school districts in the state with access to free gigabit broadband.

The Illinois Office of Broadband filed a petition for reconsideration of the Rural Digital Opportunity Fund (RDOF) order, asking the Federal Communications Commission to reconsider its decision to forego federal-state partnership on broadband deployment, asserting a partnership would help coordinate state and federal broadband investment to maximize efficiency and minimize duplication. Illinois also asked the FCC to reconsider its decision to continue to treat broadband offering 25/3 Mbps service as a viable minimum, and make 50/5 Mbps the threshold for support in the RDOF auction.