Adams Fiber has been awarded over $4.9M from the Connect Illinois Broadband Grant Program. This grant will cover roughly 50 percent of a $10M total expansion project Adams has committed to in underserved local communities in Adams and Brown Counties.

This broadband access deployment is slated to begin in Spring of 2021 and will serve approximately 1,106 households, businesses, farms, and anchor institutions in rural areas east of Quincy. The rural communities of Columbus, Payson, Richfield, Kingston, Liberty, Timewell and Adams will all benefit from this broadband access build. Burton will also benefit and is already slated to begin construction this summer.

Jim Broemmer, CEO, states, “Reliable and fast Internet access has never been more critical to community vitality, business growth, and personal health, wellness and success than it currently is. Fiber technology provides much needed resources for residents, local businesses, schools, and the region’s many agricultural operations. It will stimulate local economy and allow these areas to compete on state and national levels. Communities impacted will benefit from e-learning opportunities, work-from-home employment, and advanced telemedical care in rural areas. The profound economic impact of providing connectivity for these regions substantially improves quality of life for those impacted for decades to come.”

Residents interested in fiber expansion in their areas should fill out the form at www.followthefiber.net and encourage their neighbors to submit their interest as well. Adams will be reaching out to qualifying funded areas to begin the actual signup process.

Adams began their first fiber-to-the-home initiative in 2007 in the towns of Camp Point and Clayton. Adams expanded fiber into its Cooperative exchanges in 2009 which was completed in 2019. In 2014, fiber Internet access and phone service launched in Quincy. Since then, there are 95 Adams Fiberhoods in Quincy plus fiber-to-the-home in the surrounding areas of Barry, Bowen, Camden, Fowler, Perry, Payson, Liberty, Mt. Sterling, Plainville, Kinderhook, and Hull. Customers in these Fiberhoods are now enjoying Internet speeds up to 1,000 Mbps from a certified gig-capable local provider.

Connect Illinois is centered around three main outcomes: education, telehealth and economic development. It aims to provide universal access to basic broadband for homes, businesses, and community anchor institutions by 2024. You can view the funding areas on the state’s website here.

Adams has over 68 years of experience in the telecommunications industry, providing telephone, television, and broadband Internet services in 28 communities where there was previously little or no coverage. The company is well known for business communication, Internet offerings and for investing in communities to further economic development.