Illinois

Spectrum  announced the launch of Spectrum Internet, Mobile, TV and Voice services to more than 153 homes and small businesses in rural areas of Perry County (IL), west of Coulterville and north of Swanwick and Winkle. Spectrum’s multi-year rural construction initiative is driven by more than $7 billion in private investment from the company and will ultimately add an additional 100,000+ miles of fiber-optic network infrastructure and deliver symmetrical and multi-gigabit speed internet access to more than 1.7 million new locations across the country.

Spectrum announced the launch of Spectrum Internet, Mobile, TV and Voice services to 135 homes and small businesses in rural areas of Washington County (IL), northwest of Beaucoup. Spectrum’s multi-year rural construction initiative is driven by more than $7 billion in private investment from the company and will ultimately add an additional 100,000+ miles of fiber-optic network infrastructure and deliver symmetrical and multi-gigabit speed internet access to more than 1.7 million new locations across the country.

On the BEAD front, Illinois has completed the review of all qualifying Wave 1 applications and is moving into the deconfliction phase. “Deconfliction” is the process of de-scoping applications that overlap with higher scoring proposals. As Illinois enters the deconfliction phase, approximately 100 applications are tentatively eligible for preliminary award, and another 95 will have the opportunity to submit deconflicted proposals before the end of Wave 1. All preliminarily awarded projects will be notified by mid-May.

Illinois is the next state to release its Broadband Equity, Access, and Deployment (BEAD) Program application guidelines. The National Telecommunications and Information Administration awarded Illinois $1.04 billion in federal BEAD Program funds to expand high-speed internet access to all homes and businesses. Connect Illinois Round 4 will use these funds to provide broadband to unserved and underserved locations and eligible community anchor institutions.

The Department of Commerce’s National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) has recommended for award more than $250 million to 24 organizations to support digital skills and inclusion projects in communities across the country. The funding will support 24 projects across 39 states and territories. Awards will be issued following budget review and processing. 

Cook County (IL) Board President Toni Preckwinkle announced the inaugural recipients of the Digital Equity IMPACT Small Grants Program, a groundbreaking initiative designed to promote digital inclusion through storytelling and community engagement. A total of 15 organizations across Cook County have been awarded grants of $7,500 or $15,000, depending on the size and scope of their projects.

The Federal Communications Commission's Wireline Competition Bureau announced that certain Rural Digital Opportunity Fund (RDOF) census block groups (CBG) are now eligible for other funding programs.

The Department of Commerce’s National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) has approved and recommended an application from Illinois, allowing the state to request access to more than $23 million to implement its Digital Equity Plan. This funding comes from the $1.44 billion State Digital Equity Capacity Grant Program, one of three Digital Equity Act grant programs created by the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act.