News tagged with rural areas

Survey of Illinois Households Examines Broadband Usage, Benefits, Barriers

SPRINGFIELD, Illinois, April 22, 2013 – In a multi-faceted survey released earlier this month by Broadband Illinois, Illinois households rated fiber-optic internet connections highest in terms of speed, reliability and value. However, households in rural and isolated areas of Illinois are almost four times as likely to have a dial-up connection. 

Central Illinois Regional Broadband Network Bridges Digital Divide in Rural Areas
Broadband Illinois interviewed Scott Genung, Director of Telecommunications and Networking at Illinois State University, on the progress and goals of the Central Illinois Regional Broadband Network (CIRBN). The network, based out of Normal, is a federally funded project designed to provide high-speed, low-cost Internet connectivity to community anchor institutions (CAIs) and communities throughout Central Illinois. CIRBN will serve rural communities as well as K-12 school districts, healthcare, public safety, government, not-for-profit, and commercial institutions. The project is scheduled to be completed in Summer 2013!
Lighting and Heating Main Street and Residential Areas

Utilities and Broadband as Foundations for Economic Vitality in Rural and Urban Places

What does it take to upgrade lighting and heating utilities to achieve 21st Century energy savings and productivity?  How do decisions about Energy and the Environment – as one of seven needs identified in FCC National Broadband Plan – help local community institution networks gain confidence in their Digital Age visions for economic future?

U.S. Cellular Receives Four “Mobility Fund” Grants for Illinois

FCC ANNOUNCES WINNERS OF AMERICA'S FIRST 'MOBILITY FUND' AUCTION: UP TO 83,000 NEW U.S. ROAD MILES ON WHICH MILLIONS OF AMERICANS LIVE, WORK, OR TRAVEL WILL GAIN ACCESS TO MOBILE INTERNET WITHIN THREE YEARS

U.S. Cellular received four "Mobility Grants" for Illinois, totalling about $3.5 million. 

Washington, October 3, 2012 -- FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski today announced the winners of America’s first ‘Mobility Fund’ auction. This market-based policy innovation was part of the Commission’s once-in-a-generation reform of the Universal Service Program last year, which allocated $300 million in savings from cutting waste and inefficiency, to a new Mobility Fund aimed at closing gaps in mobile coverage across the U.S. The effort marks the first time in history the Commission has made universal mobile service an express universal service goal. 

Broadband Innovation Fund, FISPA, CenturyLink, and More!
Read about the Broadband Innovation Fund, FISPA, CenturyLink, surveys and more in this edition of the Broadband Illinois newsletter, September 11, 2012.
Broadband Boosts Rural Business
You might not think farms have much need for broadband services, but in fact agriculture is being shaped by the services offered. According to the USDA report, Broadband Internet’s Value for Rural America, the more multi-faceted the farm business, the more the farm uses the Internet.
USDA Invites Applications for Grants to Provide Broadband Service to Remote Rural Communities
Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack announced today that USDA is accepting applications through the Community Connect Broadband program for grants to provide broadband service to residents of remote, rural communities.
The Rural Broadband Evolution
According to the U.S. Department of Agriculture, some 70 percent of farms with sales of at least a quarter million dollars use the Internet for farm business, and more than 40 percent of smaller farms are online too. Meanwhile, new connected technologies that use GPS guidance and satellite imagery are infiltrating farms across North America and beyond. And a growing number of farmers are using the Internet to relieve loneliness via online dating sites dedicated to the community.
Four Illinois telephone utilities to receive over $71 million in U.S. Ag Department funds to build, expand and improve broadband in rural areas.
Telephone utilities in 18 states will receive nearly $500 million in U.S. Agriculture Department funds to build, expand and improve broadband in rural areas.
Study indicates broadband does not lower tax collections
Increased broadband does not lead to lower tax collections, indicates a study in Oklahoma about the relationship between broadband adoption and local retail sales tax collections.
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