Champaign-Urbana, U of I Look at ‘Big Broadband’ Proposal

A proposal to bring a fiber-optic broadband network to Champaign-Urbana targets the use of federal stimulus money for much of the project.

The concept would form a partnership between both cities and the University of Illinois. The entities want to apply for federal grant money, which could fund up to 80% of a new broadband system. U of I Director of Networking Mike Smeltzer says it could offer service that's up to 10 times faster than anything currently offered, which might be necessary one day. "So let's say you're the typical American family and you've got 2.4 people living there.' says Smeltzer. "That might mean you have 3 television sets, and if you want to watch 3 HD television programs at the same time, that's about 60 megs of bandwith. You're not going do to that over a 6 meg connection and you're not going to even watch one HD channel over a 7 meg connection." Smeltzer also says UC2B, or Urbana Champaign Big Broadband, should be less expensive than any cablemodem or DSL service.

The federal stimulus funds are earmarked for areas underserved by broadband access. Smeltzer expects local governments, businesses, and the U of I would have to contribute about $6 million combined to match a federal grant. The fiber-optic network would require a few rounds of funding, and about two years to build.