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Connect Illinois and BEAD
Connect Illinois, the state’s inaugural broadband investment program, has grown and evolved since its inception in 2019. The Connect Illinois broadband investment represents an integral and strategic component of the comprehensive 2019 Rebuild Illinois infrastructure program and the state’s five-year economic plan. With $400 million originally appropriated for competitive broadband grants, Connect Illinois constituted the largest state broadband matching grant program ever, and it provides the magnitude of funding needed for state-driven broadband ubiquity – and lasting broadband equity.
In addition to $400 million in competitive grants, the Connect Illinois program included $20 million for upgrades to the 100 GB Illinois Century Network, the state’s existing 2,000-mile open access institutional fiber network serving over 3,400 K-12, higher education, and library locations across the state. Importantly, this funding provided a secure K-12 Broadband Network available at no cost for all Illinois K-12 public schools.
The upcoming Connect Illinois Round 4 will be supported by the federal Broadband Equity, Access, and Deployment (BEAD) funds made possible by the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act. BEAD funding in Illinois will get Connect Illinois closer to its goal of ubiquitous statewide broadband access – for homes, businesses, and community anchor institutions throughout the state. Investment in broadband access will support economic development, education, precision agriculture, and telehealth efforts statewide. Simply put, Connect Illinois aspires to achieve broadband equity and broadband innovation.