The Greene County Economic Development Group’s mission to get fiber Internet throughout the county appears to be a reality, according to an announcement on March 19th.
The group along with Frontier Communications announced this morning that they have received $24.7 million from the Connect Illinois Grant Program to install a fiber Internet network for the vast majority of the county. Under the grant program, the fiber installation project is to be completed within 2 years.
Frontier has also announced that fiber Internet will be installed throughout the City of Carrollton by the end of this year. The total investment from both projects exceeds $45 million.
Pat Pinkston of the Greene County Economic Development Group says that the announcement is the culmination of 3 years worth of work: “A little over 3 years ago, we pulled together a group to look at how we could improve broadband in Greene County with the goal of providing fiber broadband to all of the citizens and locations in the county. We are fortunate that there is a historic program right now which is funded federally but delivered through the Illinois Office of Broadband that provides funding to do just that – bring fiber Internet to the door. We are announcing that we will provide fiber broadband to the home and to the businesses in over 95% of Greene County, as well as to the City of Carrollton. It’s been a long, hard journey but we’re really excited for this opportunity and believe it’s a historic moment for the people of Greene County.”
The Cities of Roodhouse and White Hall will only receive connection to this project if they are in close proximity of the connection line. Portions of Rockbridge who are near to a Macoupin County broadband service also will not be a part of this project. Pinkston says that tie-ins to all these communities are in the works to get the county inter-connected.
Pinkston says that the group has been fortunate in that this project has been solely funded through grants and private donations: “There are no tax dollars involved with this whatsoever. The vast majority of it – all but $100,000 of it – is coming from either Frontier Communications funding a significant portion of it and the grant funding through American Rescue Plan Act dollars that went to the state and the Connect Illinois program and then the $100,000 of private donations – some of that coming from townships and the county. The vast majority of it comes from private donations with folks like the Tracy Foundation and others who have stepped up to help us cover our portion [of the grant] to demonstrate our commitment to the project. This has no impact on local tax dollars whatsoever.”
Those wishing to get fiber to their door in Greene County can visit frontier.com for the rates that will be offered for the service. Pinkston says that the affordability and competitive rates are estimated to save citizens of the county $1 million in total annually in Internet costs. For more information, visit gcedg.com or email greenecountybroadbandproject@gmail.com.