Biden-Harris Administration Awards More Than $6.5 Million to Illinois in ‘Internet for All’ Planning Grants

The Department of Commerce’s National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) announced that Illinois received its first “Internet for All” grants for deploying high-speed Internet networks and developing digital skills training programs under the Biden-Harris Administration’s Internet for All initiative. Illinois is receiving $6,515,352.64 in funding from the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act to plan for the deployment and adoption of affordable, equitable, and reliable high-speed Internet service throughout the state. Illinois will receive $5 million in Broadband Equity, Access, and Deployment (BEAD) grants to fund various activities including:

• Creation of five-year "Connect Illinois" action plan;
• Identification of unserved and underserved locations;
• Increasing capacity and staffing of Illinois' state broadband office;
• Surveys of underserved, unserved and underrepresented communities to better understand barriers to high-speed Internet adoption;
• Identification and elimination of digital equity gaps in alignment with the Digital Equity program.

Illinois will receive $1,515,352.64 in Digital Equity Act grants to fund various activities including:

• Creation of an Illinois state Digital Equity plan;
• Cohort-wide meetings and kick-off events;
• Data snapshots for each region and state on critical digital equity indicators;
• Digital navigator capacity and training systems;
• Data collection and sharing through the Illinois Broadband Lab collaboration -- such as annual broadband access mapping.