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Lake County reports BEAD provisional awards and digital navigator metrics
Summary
The broadband and digital equity team outlined provisional BEAD award mapping for Lake County, noting multiple providers (Amazon satellite, Comcast coax/fiber, AT&T and Strategic Management fiber) and reported digital navigator program results through September.
Kate Crandall, Lake County digital equity manager, and Kim Lund, digital equity coordinator, updated the Technology Committee on provisional Broadband Equity Access and Deployment (BEAD) awards and on county digital equity work on Oct. 31.
Crandall said Illinois submitted its BEAD proposal to the National Telecommunications and Information Administration on Sept. 30 and is in a curing phase with NTIA; provisional award maps are available at illinoisb.org. The county's slide examples showed Amazon providing satellite service across large swaths of the county, Comcast providing coaxial and fiber service in other areas, and both AT&T and Strategic Management proposing fiber-to-the-premises builds in parts of the county, including western areas that have limited satellite coverage. Crandall said the presence of multiple providers could increase competition and quality but that affordability remains a concern to monitor.
Crandall and Lund also reported metrics for the county's digital navigator program through September: 3,286 residents served, 2,708 hours of engagement, 2,464 sessions and 806 devices distributed. They introduced three new digital navigators and described a coalition meeting with 47 attendees representing 23 organizations and eight community members. Committee members praised the outreach and emphasized the role of competition in improving service quality.
