Broadband in Cook County

Cook County Broadband Updates 9-3-2010

RUS ARRA Broadband Grant Status

Final announcements on the USDA-RUS grants are slated to be announced next week. The waiting will be over and we will know which direction we need to point our efforts next: Either towards helping North East Service Cooperative build a network, or looking for new approaches to getting the job done.

We learned last week that the Arrowhead Electric board voted to withdraw their application from consideration by RUS for building a fiber optic network in Cook County. We understand that the gaps left when their partner, Pulse Broadband pulled out of part of the agreement were too big for them to fill within the allotted timeframe. This news means that the North East Service Cooperative is the only organization with an active grant application to provide broadband services to Cook County.

Local Service Provider News

On August 24 ^th , the shareholders of both Qwest and CenturyLink voted to approve the merger of the two companies. While the merger still needs to be reviewed by 14 state regulatory commissions and the FCC, the process is expected to be completed during the first half of 2011. It is unclear at this point how the merger will affect Cook County customers. The North East Service Cooperative is in discussion with both companies about using the fiber optic network to deliver services to their customers in Cook County.

AT&T continues to move forward with their plans to expand wireless coverage in Cook County. According to Duane Ege, Cook County’s radi...