The U.S. Department of Agriculture is investing $63 million in ReConnect funding to bring broadband to rural areas of Illinois, Michigan, Minnesota and Mississippi. The four projects all are in the form of grants and feature fiber-to-the-premises networks: The ReConnect…
Bluebird Network today announced that it had completed its 126-fiber-route-mile network build in Illinois, giving it a network of 11,000 miles of fiber and further expanding the company’s reach outside its initial Missouri footprint. The recently completed Illinois network will…
The National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) has continued the fast pace of announcements of planning grants for the Broadband Equity, Access and Deployment (BEAD) and Digital Equity programs. The NTIA, which is part of the U.S. Department of Commerce,…
T-Mobile is rolling out its fixed wireless access (FWA) 5G Home Internet service to more than 6 million homes in 70 markets in Illinois, Michigan and Wisconsin. There are 25 markets in Illinois (including Chicago, Peoria and Pontiac), 28 in…
AT&T Illinois has agreed to pay a $23 million fine in connection with a criminal investigation. The company admitted to paying $22,500 to a friend of former Illinois Speaker of the House Michael Madigan to influence the passage of legislation…
Brightspeed says that it will deploy its multi-gigabit fiber broadband network in Illinois and Michigan. In total, the service provider will pass 69,000 addresses over the next several years. In Illinois, Brightspeed will pass as many as 14,000 addresses in…
Illinois Electric Cooperative (IEC) said it will use funding received through the Connect America Fund II (CAF II) auction to deploy fixed wireless in rural Pike County. IEC will use technology from Ericsson and Xtreme LTE for the deployment, which…
The State of Illinois will contribute $7 million toward a $22 million Shawnee Communications broadband expansion project in unserved and underserved areas in the southern part of the state. The funding comes through the Connect Illinois program. More than 2,550…
The USDA has made an additional $16.4 million in awards in three states through the ReConnect rural broadband program. The USDA ReConnect grants and grant/loan combinations went to telecommunications companies serving Illinois, Oregon and South Carolina. In all, the awards…
The USDA ReConnect Program has made awards to service providers for deployment of FTTP networks in West Virginia, Illinois and Minnesota. The West Virginia, Illinois and Minnesota USDA ReConnect awards came in the form of grants. The three projects, which…
The USDA is coming close to winding down phase one of the ReConnect Pilot Program with recent awards totaling $16.8 million in Tennessee, Georgia and Illinois. The $600 million phase of the ReConnect program, which is designed to create or…
Bluebird Networks, operator of a fiber network spanning several Midwestern states, said it has signed an agreement to purchase Illinois Network Alliance, which operates a network in that state. INA is owned by several smaller Illinois telecom service providers. Bluebird…
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