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Lawmakers from the Legislative Budget Oversight Committee met
with National Telecommunications and Information Administration
officials to go over what is needed from the Internet for All
Program to make that goal possible.
Greg Claus of NTIA explained what the Internet for All program
grants will provide.
"You can think of this as the Internet Infrastructure Grant
program, which is us trying to get access to everyone and build
up the pipes of the internet to people's homes, businesses, and
farms directly," Claus said.
According to Claus, Illinois has set aside $400 million for the
broadband expansion program through the Rebuild Illinois Capital
plan and will now move into phase two, with costs rising to up
to $1 billion.
"Previously, Illinois has already submitted their letter of
intent. They submitted a five-year action plan, they did a lot
of local coordination and engaging stakeholders throughout the
state to talk to them and learn what their issues are with
connectivity," Claus said. "Now they are in the initial proposal
phase, which is developing a plan on how to connect all the
underserved homes."
The plan for the state is to begin the construction of internet
pipes in those underserved communities. State Sen. Sally Turner,
R-Beason, asked about how to implement broadband services
safely.
"We have three municipalities in my district; one of them, their
gasoline got hit seven times during the digs, another one in
Clinton where their gas line was hit four times, and they had to
cut the diggers off and wait until everything cleared out, and
businesses closed," Turner said. "We also had one in Mount
Pulaski, Illinois, where their water main got hit four times."
State Sen. Christina Castro had questions regarding the state's
ability to go forward with a plan this size.
"I know the state has its own broadband plan to the tune of $400
million; from what you see, do you feel we have the capacity,
staff, and ability to roll out the billion-dollar plan in a
timely fashion," Castro asked.
The discussions will continue in the coming months as Claus said
he will take the lawmaker's questions to his team and come back
with answers.
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