WASHINGTON, February 22, 2010 – Illinois’ DeKalb County and portions of the state’s LaSalle County have won nearly $12 million from the National Telecommunications and Information Administration to improve and expand their broadband services.
NTIA Administrator Larry Strickling announced the $11.9 million broadband infrastructure grant for the DeKalb Advancement of Technology Authority Broadband project last week.
The investment aims to enable the deployment of a 130-mile fiber network across DeKalb and northern LaSalle counties, providing high-speed Internet connections to at least 60 institutions such as schools, hospitals, libraries, public safety entities and government agencies.
The project will connect to the Illinois Rural HealthNet, allowing medical facilities connected to this project to collaborate with specialists at larger facilities throughout the state and nation.
It also will interconnect local municipalities and provide backbone infrastructure for emergency services and disaster recovery.
