Officials said it is an important process to verify the accuracy
of the state’s availability map so funds will be distributed to
the underserved areas. Underserved locations are those without
reliable service of at least 25 Mbps download speed and 3 Mbps
upload speed.
“If you have much slower internet than what the state is
believing, we need to flag those areas, so I encourage everyone
to participate in the [Illinois Department of Commerce and
Economic Opportunity] broadband challenge process,” said state
Rep. Ryan Spain, R-Peoria, and co-chair of the Joint Committee
on Administrative Rules which is dealing with the distribution
of federal taxpayer broadband funding.
Illinois was awarded just over $1 billion in broadband equity
program funds from federal taxpayers, to be spent over the next
five years, from the National Telecommunications and Information
Administration to connect unserved and under-served locations to
quality, affordable broadband service. Illinois is one of 19
states to receive over $1 billion.
In 2023, five Illinois counties participated in the Benton
Institute’s Broadband Breakthrough Program. It was designed to
inform local leaders on how broadband expansion happens, how to
conduct community surveys, and how to get a piece of the federal
funding.
Illinoisans can participate in the challenge phase by completing
internet speed tests at BEADchallenge.org. Speed tests completed
anytime through March 18 will be accepted.
At the statewide level, Connect Illinois was created in 2019 to
achieve ubiquitous statewide broadband access for homes and
businesses. At the same time, Connect Illinois will promote
digital literacy, adoption and inclusion while leveraging
investment in new broadband infrastructure to spur advances in
such areas as economic development, education, precision
agriculture and telehealth.
Greg Bishop contributed to this report.
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