Effort Continues by Telecom Companies to Bring More Internet Service to Rural Areas

ABOVE: Vermilion Advantage CEO Mike Marron is shown addressing the Danville City Council (file photo).

Vermilion Advantage CEO Mike Marron says the pulling of digital equity grants from various states by the president, including a potential $23 million for Illinois, is not ending the effort to get more internet service to rural areas in Vermilion County.

As Marron explained to us, the program being ended by the president did have a specific purpose, that some Vermilion County families might have pursued.

AUDIO: The digital equity is actually assistance to low income individuals to help pay for internet access.  So, that’s a little bit different of a program.  And there may be some people here in the county that are trying to access that digital equity money, but it wouldn’t specifically affect our efforts for rural internet expansion.

Marron says the effort to use BEAD funding for additional internet connections in rural areas continues.  BEAD stands for Broadband Equity Access and Deployment; and Marron says that’s federal money, that is distributed by the state, to telecom companies.

AUDIO: The issue is that it’s such a high cost to run access in rural areas, that it’s hard for the telecom company to be profitable.  So the telecom company would apply for the BEAD funding, and it would be assistance to them, basically to put enough resources on the table to make it a profitable venture to expand access into those areas.

Marron says numerous telecom companies are still waiting for an answer from “round one” of BEAD funding applications, and that “round two” of applications is in the early stages.