Volume Eighteen, Number One -- Spring 2009

National groups are recognizing the increasing importance of
building consumer support for and usage of the growing broadband
Internet infrastructure in the United States, and the members of the
Illinois Telecommunications Association applaud the work being
proposed for just this purpose.

Specifically, the US Internet Industry Association (USIIA) has
begun a project designed to support creation of a national
broadband policy for the U.S. that is built upon the concept of
“digital inclusion.”

“For several years, we in Illinois have been talking with
policymakers about the legitimate role of government in incenting
the use of a broadband Internet network so that it makes economic
sense for the private sector to build the infrastructure,” said Philip
Wood, Chairman of the Illinois Telecommunications Association
board. “If consumers know how to put the power of broadband to
work for their own business and personal uses, the demand for the
infrastructure will grow, the state and the country will benefit from
the investment, and the economy will expand in new and exciting
ways.”

The USIIA is working to elevate an awareness of the issue of
Digital Inclusion among policymakers with the goal of developing
specific, measurable initiatives to boost broadband adoption rates
among consumers as a part of a National Broadband Plan.

According to the USIIA, the 2008 Global Information Technology
Report rates US broadband infrastructure as 4th in the world and
improving, while the U.S. places 15th in the world for the percentage
of consumers adopting broadband. This report leads to the
conclusion that deployment is good but consumer adoption is
lagging.

“Government has a vested interest in encouraging consumers
to be comfortable with and to regularly use broadband because this
justifies additional build-out, moderates the cost to individual
consumers, and stimulates new products, services and applications
in response to consumer interest,” said Wood. “The overall result is
to create a more highly trained and better educated workforce that
will facilitate economic development here and will help the state and
the nation remain competitive worldwide.”

In the latest example of the commitment by local
telecommunications companies to the communities they serve,
Madison Telecommunications in Staunton celebrated in February
a new partnership with the Staunton Community Memorial
Hospital. Madison Telecommunications, the hospital, and local
community leaders and legislators all praised the installation of a
new CAT scan at the hospital which connects to other health care
providers through a broadband fiber application installed by
Madison Telecom.

The company worked with the hospital to install this fiber
connection which gives the hospital virtually unlimited bandwidth
to expedite the transfer of diagnostic information and allow for
future expansion.

“This partnership will serve as a model for other rural
communities around the state,” said Doug Dougherty, president of
the Illinois Telecommunications Association. “I hope that, working
with local phone companies, a rural community can find that
anchor tenant which makes the business case for capital
investment. Once the fiber network is deployed within the
community, the costs for connectivity are significantly reduced.”

Bob Schwartz, president of Madison Telecommunications, and
his key staff worked with hospital personnel who had been
frustrated by the slow rate of data transfer to coordinate the
broadband connection and the installation of a new, state-of-theart
CAT scan machine. Before the upgrade, the hospital shared a
T-1 line with local schools and the city government. With the fiber
connection, the new scanner can transfer images in a second,
rather than the 20 minutes it would previously have taken.

State Senator Deanna Demuzio and then-Representative
Gary Hannig attended the ceremony to underscore the importance
of this type of partnership to rural Illinois.

Demuzio described the project as the result of “innovative
thinking,” and Hannig observed that “When you•re in a small
community like Staunton, you have to work together to get things
done.”

Schwartz noted that new technologies improve the delivery of
health care services through advanced speeds and new
applications. With the vitually unlimited bandwidth of the new fiber
connection, the hospital can quickly deliver diagnostic services
today and has plenty of room for new applications and expanded
use.

President's Letter

What a busy spring! I have had the good fortune this year to
see a number of initiatives with which the association has been
involved advancing to the implementation stage. For example,
over the past few years, I have been working with government
agencies, the industry and interested community organizations to
try to enhance and promote the development of broadband
infrastructure and usage here in Illinois. Last year, we were
successful in convincing Illinois policymakers to move $4 million
from the Illinois Commerce Commission (ICC) to the Department
of Commerce and Economic Opportunity (DCEO), and that money
is now providing funding for the implementation of the High Speed
Internet Services and Information Technology Act. (You will find
more details about this in the article on page 4). DCEO has
awarded a contract and work will soon be underway to catalog
what is available now and to develop a strategy to further promote
the use of the broadband infrastructure.

The ITA also helped win legislative approval of a supplemental
appropriation this year of $3 million to the Department of
Healthcare and Family Services (DHFS)and $2 million to DCEO
for use in matching federal stimulus funds for Health Information
Exchange (HIE) Technology Improvements and broadband
enhancement. Requests for proposals in this area have also been
distributed.

With federal stimulus funds being made available for
broadband deployment, health information exchange (HIE) and
rural health facilities connectivity, the implementation of these
three programs will better position Illinois to take advantage of
these federal stimulus funds. Strong private/public partnerships
are the key for getting the most benefit out of the federal funds
and we are ahead of the curve in that regard.

Doug Dougherty

In The News

AT&T invests more. This March, AT&T announced plans to
invest in 40 new 3G wireless cell sites throughout Illinois in 2009 as
part of its commitment to build networks that will create jobs and fuel
economic growth. Some of these new cell sites will expand 3G
access to new cities, including Champaign, Kankakee, LaSalle,
Ottawa, and Peoria.

ITA Convention Set. The annual Illinois Telecommunications
Association will be held June 7-10 in East Peoria. Please contact
ITA staff for more information.

ITAC Wins Award. ITAC was named “Best Accessibility
Provider” at the 2009 Deaf Illinois Awards in Chicago this April.
Congratulations!

DCEO Awarding Broadband
Promotion Contract for State

At this writing, the Illinois Department of Commerce and Economic
Opportunity (DCEO) is in negotiations to award a contract to promote
statewide broadband deployment and use to an Illinois not-for-profit
group, the Partnership for a Connected Illinois. In keeping with the
requirements of the High Speed Internet Services and Information
Technology Act, this new not-for-profit group will implement a
comprehensive, statewide high-speed Internet deployment strategy and
demand creation initiative.

The initiative is designed to: ensure that all Illinois consumers have
access to affordable and reliable high-speed Internet; improve
technological literacy and use; create local technology planning teams in
each county or region; and promote technology investment.

Connected Nation, a national not-for-profit created to promote
broadband deployment and use, Connect SI, a southern-Illinois not-forprofit
with similar goals, and Southern Illinois University have teamed up
to form this new not-for-profit organization that will work with DCEO for
the Illinois broadband initiative.

The initiative requires: creation of a geographic statewide inventory
of high-speed Internet service and other relevant broadband and
information technology services; the tracking and identification of
statewide residential and business adoption of high-speed Internet and
related applications; the creation in each county or designated region of
a local technology planning team with members from a cross-section of
each community; collaboration with high-speed Internet providers and
technology companies to encourage deployment and use; and
collaboration with DCEO to develop a program to increase computer
ownership and broadband access for disenfranchised populations.

SIU's Rex Duncan, Director of Community Development and
Outreach and one of the Partnership leaders, commended ITA's
leadership in advancing a statewide broadband initiative. “Doug
Dougherty's role in getting the original legislation through the General
Assembly was crucial,” Duncan said. “Doug, the ITA staff, and its
membership are all to be recognized for their vision and determination to
see the High Speed Internet Services and Information Technology Act
through to a successful outcome. The timing of this project with national
funding availability is remarkable. We are all very grateful to Doug and
his team for their great work, and look forward to working with him in the
years ahead.”

The Illinois Telecommunications Association (ITA) was instrumental
in working with state agencies to find funds to support this initiative. The
ITA also worked with the legislative sponsors of the original Act to
ensure appropriate roles for both public and private sector interests.

“We are looking forward to working with the organizations involved
in this effort to help ensure that the private sector know-how and
resources are directed most effectively toward the desired end result –
improved broadband usage in Illinois,” said Doug Dougherty, president
of the ITA. “This work should help take this state to the next level in
terms of the economic and daily life impact of broadband technologies
and their applications.”