McLean County is moving to the second phase in its effort to get all its residents reliable internet access.
It’s now asking people countywide to test broadband speed at their homes or businesses to get a realistic idea of who’s lacking quality internet — or access altogether. The county’s goal is to secure funding, particularly to help the more rural areas, and the speed test will determine eligibility.
County Board Chair Catherine Metsker said the current understanding of internet accessibility is “incorrect.”
“Maps indicate quality service when, in fact, there is no service or little service,” she said at a press conference Thursday.
Collecting results from residents’ broadband speed tests would resolve this knowledge gap, but only if enough people across the county participated.
The county previously surveyed residents about their internet service and found many weren't happy with it.
John Scott, an AmeriCorps member with the county, said icons will appear on a digital map to indicate where people who tested and lacked service are located. Then, the Illinois Broadband, Equity, Access, and Deployment (BEAD) Program will have a better idea of where to disperse the $1 billion it has for these efforts statewide.
“That can help us get more funding for the entire county to say, these are all the locations that we need to serve because they're underserved at the moment,” Scott told WGLT after the press conference.
The test is accessible online, though BEAD hasn’t announced when it will end its “challenge.” Scott said it's best to take the test as soon as possible.
Getting broadband to residents is going to take even longer, he added.
“I know that this will not be an instant process,” Scott said. “But we here at the county are working as fast as possible.”
Residents with no internet access are being asked to submit proof to the county. For example, a letter from an Internet Service Provider (ISP) saying it doesn’t cover that area.
Feasibility test
At the same time the BEAD Challenge is happening, the county is launching additional efforts to check broadband feasibility, said Assistant County Administrator Anthony Grant.
“That will allow us to start conversations with landowners and those who are adjacent to that, so we can work on right-of-way and easement issues,” he said after the press conference. (Right-of-way refers to traffic law and easement has to do with land rights.)
Grant said the county is exploring fiber — one of the methods of broadband deployment — as a means to extend internet access into the rural areas. Fiber can be buried underground or placed above ground through poles.
To get fiber to townships equally, Grant said the county needs to do some work.
“We're looking at starting here in the very near future, looking at the permitting side of things to try to get some consistency of what the permits look like from township to township, because that's the biggest issue besides the money side that's holding up ISPs from expanding on their own without any type of government assistance or the grant money that should be coming,” he said.
The county is expecting there will be townships or locations where fiber isn’t an option due to cost. In those places, Grant said the county would be looking for wireless solutions.
People, business affected
In the meantime, people like Curt and Peggy Braffet will continue to struggle. They run Braffet Berry Farm & Orchard in Carlock. He said the business struggles without reliable WiFi.
“We've tried many different carriers,” he said at the press conference. “They all promise us, ‘Yes, it'll work out there,’ and no, it doesn't work very well,” he said.
Multiple times the WiFi-reliant card-reader has failed them when trying to check customers out. Curt said he and his wife have had to rely on the honor system for payments as a result.
“‘Here's our address, send us a check,’” he’s told customers when this happens. “I don't know if we get 100% back or not, but either way that kind of looks like shoddy business on our part.”
He added that there are pages worth of information he could share on how his business is adversely affected.
Problems even extend to Peggy's teaching job. During the pandemic, she couldn't teach classes at home because the internet wasn't stable enough to run Zoom.
"She would have to get up, get in the car, take her computer, whether into the McDonald's parking lot, get online in the parking lot and conduct her classes from there, because our internet at home would not support what she needed to do," he said.
The Braffets currently rely on a hotspot. They hope fiber — and extended broadband — could make the difference.
