From the Illinois Broadband Connections Newsletter

May will be a busy month for the Illinois Office of Broadband, as state & federal timelines align around key programs & initiatives

On May 7, the fourth cohort of the Broadband Breakthrough program is scheduled to wrap-up. Stay tuned for an update about the seven participating counties, and how they’ll contribute to broadband deployment applications.

The “deconfliction” phase of the Broadband Equity, Access, and Deployment (BEAD) Program, also known as Connect Illinois Round 4, was completed on April 18. Now, Illinois finalizes preliminary awards, preparing for the launch of Wave 2 on May 19 – just two weeks away!

And on digital equity, the IOB team is now in the final review stage of the 100+ Illinois Digital Equity Capacity (IDEC) Wave 1 grant applications. When completed, Illinois will submit a Specific Projects Form with proposed awardees to the National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) for final approval. As a reminder, the final deadline to apply for IDEC Wave 2 is approaching — all applications must be submitted by Thursday, May 8 at 5 pm CT.

- Full Newsletter available here

- RELATED/Previous newsletters
(Review of IDEC Wave 1 Closes with Over 100 Applications) link
(Review of BEAD Wave 1 Applications is Underway) link.