Lake County officials on Aug. 1 briefed the Technology Committee on recent federal changes to the Broadband Equity, Access, and Deployment (BEAD) program and on local public Wi-Fi projects, and said they will press state and federal partners to restore program elements they consider important to long-term affordability and equity.

Kaye Crandall, the county's digital equity manager, summarized a June 6 National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) restructuring notice that moves BEAD to a technology-neutral standard. She said the federal guidance eliminates a fiber-first preference and removes several program scoring elements that previously rewarded climate resilience, workforce development and net neutrality. Under the revised federal guidance, qualifying technologies must meet minimum standards of 100/20 megabits per second with latency no greater than 100 milliseconds and be scalable.

"Key changes include a shift to a technology neutral framework, eliminating the fiber first preference," Crandall said. She added the state Office of Broadband has updated guidance and that Illinois' Connect Illinois round 4 applications are being re-scored under the new federal rules; state reviewers estimate the changes could delay deployment up to 18 months while waves are re-evaluated.

Committee members and staff said the changes reduce the state's ability to require specific affordability standards and workforce-development scoring. "Several program requirements were removed, including labor and workforce development scoring, climate resilience, net neutrality, local coordination requirements, and state defined low cost plans," Crandall said. County officials said they had advanced a resolution to the National Association of Counties (NACo) urging restoration of those measures, and said NACo is carrying those priorities to federal partners.

Locally, county staff said they are drafting intergovernmental agreements to advance public Wi-Fi projects with the cities of Waukegan and North Chicago. The Waukegan mock-up shown to the committee identified radio access points across parks and streets; officials said some equipment has already been received and that the city is a supportive partner. "These red points on the map are radio points that would be a part of the network," Crandall said, describing the network access points in the proposed Waukegan deployment.

Staff outlined next steps: monitor BEAD application waves, engage ISPs on pricing and technology choices, coordinate with state broadband staff and local permitting, and lobby state and federal representatives to restore affordability and resilience measures the county supports. County staff also said they will prioritize outreach to ISPs to understand where projects will be proposed and to encourage low-cost options and local coordination.

The committee was told the federal changes may change project scoring and timetables but that county planning for public Wi-Fi and digital equity work will continue.