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The
Biden administration announced in June that all 50 states will
share a total of $42.5 billion in Broadband Equity, Access and
Deployment Program funding. The funding comes from the
bipartisan infrastructure law and must be used for broadband
deployment.
The Benton Institute for Broadband and Society has released a
planning roadmap on ways to pursue the funding. Executive
Director Adrianna Furniss said Illinois is going to receive over
$1 billion to build broadband infrastructure.
“In mostly areas that have, let’s just say lousy broadband,”
said Furniss. “Obviously a lot of the communities that are in
rural Illinois are the ones who suffer from that bad broadband
and so the money will be allocated to those communities first.”
Over 16 weeks, Edgar, Hancock, McLean, Ogle and Schuyler
counties used broadband maps from the Illinois Office of
Broadband, surveys and speed tests administered by University of
Illinois Extension, and new open-source tools from researchers
at Illinois State University to understand their broadband
needs, assets and options.
The report takes a look at the journey of the counties that
enrolled in Broadband Breakthrough, a new engagement and
planning program created by the Benton Institute.
“I think the pandemic just illustrated why broadband was really
important and really spurred that federal investment that is
going to the state,” said Furniss.
The allocation of broadband funding has not gone without
controversy. Republican members of Congress have criticized a
program that gives $30 monthly broadband discounts to people
with low incomes, accusing the Federal Communications Commission
of being “wasteful.” They threatened to block funding for the
Affordable Connectivity Program, which is expected to run out of
money in April 2024.
The Broadband Equity, Access and Deployment Program is the
federal government’s largest-ever investment in the expansion of
high-speed internet access and focuses on connecting underserved
and rural communities.
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