People are paying high fees for the Internet in Illinois, but are still dealing with the frustrating speed.
Victor May does not have cable TV in his home outside of Collinsville. This is an extra cost he cannot afford—everything is spent on his phone and Internet bills of more than $300 a month.
"All the money must be used for Internet use," May said, "or should I say cell phones."
His service is equivalent to three wireless hotspots, on three mobile phone lines, one each for him, his wife and 16-year-old daughter.
When May tried to work from home in the trucking business or when his daughter did homework, it was still frustratingly slow.
"It's usually easier to jump into my truck and go to Starbucks."
They tried satellites, but at $250 per month, the speed was worse and it was not worth it. The cost of relocating a telephone pole near Rockman Road closer to his property was also not costly. As another supplier proposed, he called for six years before contacting him and proposed another An untenable solution.
"I just want something, anything," May said.
May is just one of countless Illinois people who don't lack full access to the Internet. They just have bad, expensive internet.
Illinois will soon receive at least $100 million from the federal government to provide the Internet to 600,000 residents who cannot access it at home. But it is not clear whether the money will solve other large-scale connectivity problems faced by people like May.
Internet access issues, whether it is about speed, reliability, or affordability, involve all categories. Low-income, middle-class and wealthy people are at the mercy of Internet providers and what they want to charge and provide. For those who are poor or living in rural areas, the situation is usually worse.
However, they had no choice. The Belleville mother of three, Crystal Calvin, said her neighbor had a reliable internet less than half a mile away.
Calvin pays $180 a month for two mobile hotspots with limited data. When they run out of data, usually within a few weeks of the billing cycle, that's it. There is no more internet connection at home.
"The price you have to pay for unreliable service and the restrictions on options are absurd," said Calvin, who has considered adding a third hot spot to their monthly bill. "You are forced to pay any set price."
Brooklyn students and their families, the historic black community, also known as Lovejoy, also used hotspots to connect to schools during the pandemic, said Ronald Ferrell, the former head of the area. There is still no reliable broadband in the Lovejoy area.
"It's terrible. There is no wireless Internet, the pandemic has hit, and the Internet is there to play its role. Man, it's tough," Ferrer said. "Unfortunately, Lovejoys, Venices and Madisons still do not have these services."
Reliability and affordability are not reflected in the state's connectivity figures. Kevin Poe, managing director of the Metro East Division of the non-profit PCs for People, said that more than 99% of Illinois residents can use the minimum speed set by the federal government. Only 10% of people cannot get a speed slightly higher than the federal minimum speed.
"The percentage looks good, but what is the price of the Internet? What type of Internet is it?" Poe said, his statistics come from the Illinois Broadband Office.
Poe said the office mainly obtains data from Internet providers, and these numbers do not reflect cost or reliability. The data based on residents' responses tells a different story: According to the U.S. Census Bureau's 2019 American Community Survey, 19% of households reported not having any Internet access at all. The Illinois Department of Business and Economic Opportunity stated that 600,000 people do not have home Internet access.
Whether Illinois will spend its infrastructure funds to help people get rid of the slow and expensive Internet will depend on how it defines "access." Does this mean that the community is completely offline? Will the state count as a wireless Internet provider that offers snail speeds in poor communities for $65 a month? Can residents use hotspots?
"Hopefully they didn't use hotspots as an example of connection," Poe said. "You can flood a community with hotspots, yes, it helps them, but it's more like a band-aid."
Illinois Broadband Director Matt Schmidt said the state is committed to helping Illinois people get speeds much faster than the federal minimum standards by investing in optical fiber.
"We have exceeded the threshold of Illinois," Schmidt said. "We want to invest in infrastructure that meets all needs and realize that this is a constantly changing goal because bandwidth requirements will change over time. Think about how many devices are connected in your home at any given time. It's It’s much older than it was a few years ago, so we have to predict today’s and tomorrow’s bandwidth requirements."
According to Governor JB Pritzker's plan to rebuild Illinois, Illinois has invested hundreds of millions of dollars in broadband. The governor said that this work paved the way for the state to use federal funds effectively.
"For example, we are ready in Illinois to ensure that we carry out our mission of providing broadband to everyone," Pritzker said at an event in Chicago on Thursday night.
There are many things to be determined about how the state will use federal funds to advance its existing broadband strategy. As discussions on infrastructure spending heat up, Illinois people like Calvin continue to suffer from slow speeds, few choices, and expensive services.
"They know these people have no choice," she said.
Broadband is the general term for a variety of high-speed Internet. According to the Federal Communications Commission, some are faster and more reliable than others.
The most common types include DSL and cable, which use existing telephone and cable television lines to transmit the Internet. Optical fiber lines are much faster than DSL and cables, and provide services through transparent glass optical fibers. Only 13.4% of Illinois residents have access to "future-oriented" fiber technology.
Wireless broadband is transmitted from the provider’s equipment to the customer’s home via radio signals. There is also satellite broadband, which provides the Internet by connecting to satellites orbiting the earth. Wireless and satellite can be as fast as DSL and cable, but are also affected by weather and "line of sight" interference (such as trees).
Schmidt said the federal government’s minimum acceptable speed is sufficient for a student to study remotely, a person calling a telemedicine phone, or a person working from home.
"This is definitely the minimum," he said.
Although this situation may be more common before 2021, the COVID-19 pandemic has completely changed the way households use the Internet. Democratic Senator Tammy Duckworth from Illinois stated that it is no longer a disposable item, but more like a necessity for water or heating.
"This is a public utility. Don’t think about it like cable TV 50 years ago. I’m sorry, no, it’s a public utility. It’s as important as water, sewers, or anything else. We’re in COVID Saw this," Duckworth said.
Michael Needles, the father of eight children, lives in a house builder outside of Collinsville and does not have a reliable access service in his home.
For most of 2020 and early 2021, he and his wife Caroline had to let all their children go to school online. Suddenly, federal standards are no longer enough for a large family that needs to have video chats at the same time.
Due to the inability to use fiber optic or wired Internet services, during the worst of the pandemic, they had to pay about $400 a month for a 3G hotspot and two satellites.
"That definitely won't work," Needles said. "We have gone through many choices, but after using so much data, all these choices will let you down."
Now they pay $250 for the mobile phone plan, plus "unlimited" satellite internet for more than $100, which will slow down after a week or so. On rainy days, it hardly works. When children go back to school in person, they almost always need a reliable internet to complete their homework.
"It's amazing how important Internet access is to modern American homes. It really is," Needles said. "Twenty years ago, it was not necessary to have it, but now it is."
People in Illinois face frustrating and sometimes ridiculous dilemmas when trying to access the Internet.
Needles said he built his home on a 3-acre plot of land near Lebanon Road, and an internet company promised to provide wired broadband services.
Needles said that after the construction was completed nearly three years ago, they booked a time to connect the Internet to the house, but no one showed up. When he asked again, they told him that they had booked an appointment through a third-party service and that their new home did not meet the service conditions.
Kristi Nichols and her husband faced a similar situation when they moved to a semi-rural area outside New Baden. Frontier Communications, a broadband provider in Connecticut, told Nichols that they can access. After moving, Frontier changed his mind.
"When they came here to install everything, they said you didn't have a good enough internet signal here," Nichols said. A Frontier spokeswoman said that the company has since resolved a "simple system problem" that indicated that Nichols's home could provide services, but it did not. She said that the company regrets the inconvenience caused to you.
Cort Hacker, another resident in the east of the subway, lives near Lebanon with his three children. He paid $300 for satellite TV and AT&T hotspots so that he could work from home.
There is a fiber optic line directly connected in front of his house, but he is not allowed to use it. He said that it is only used for commercial purposes.
"I live only three minutes from high school. It's crazy to think we have these problems," Huck said. "It's 2021. Why haven't we arrived yet? This is ridiculous."
Others do their best to provide reliable services. Nathan Stooke, CEO of Wisper, an Internet provider in Mascoutah, said that one of his clients cut down almost all the trees on his property so that he can access Wisper's sight from a nearby tower Wireless broadband.
They install the transmitters on tall structures, such as granaries or water towers. The dish in the customer's home receives the signal and transmits it to their home router, connecting them to the Internet. Trees may block the signal.
"His brother borrowed a (bull) bulldozer to build his house, and he just smashed them all over the floor with the bulldozer," Stoke said, "there is a beautiful tower there."
Internet companies don’t have a good track record of keeping promises, but some Illinois people are hopeful about another promise.
Needles paid $100 to enter the waiting list promised by Elon Musk for Starlink, a low-orbit satellite network that is expected to provide high-speed internet for those with few options. If Needles can register, then they need to pay an additional $400 to send a satellite antenna. He is not sure how much it will cost per month.
"I hope this improves the situation, but I haven't heard any updates yet," Needles said.
This technology may help people like Tom Kirkley, a design engineer living in rural St. Clair County. His only option to connect to work from the so-called "no man's land" in the valley is slow satellite broadband, which costs $100 a month.
Should the Internet be a practical tool?
Nichols’ husband works as an insurance broker at home and now pays about $300 a month for satellite TV and AT&T mobile phone plans and unlimited data hotspots.
This is her only affordable option.
Despite the high cost, the Internet is almost useless. It freezes during the video call, and Nichols and her husband cannot use it at the same time. They considered signing up for satellite broadband services, but these plans come with data caps that they will pass soon.
They continue to pay because they have no choice.
"They're just digging for you," Nichols said. "We are fortunate to be able to afford this. There are many people who cannot afford it."
Belleville's mother Calvin said that the company has no incentive to provide better service.
"They really need to treat it like a utility company, not all these closely integrated companies that own these lines and owe these services," Calvin said.
Although utilities such as water supply, sewer and electricity usually have only one supplier in a community, they are strictly regulated by the government. Many people said they would like to see the Internet subject to similar regulation. Duckworth said she agreed.
"Unless you pay more, the water company does not allow you to lower your water pressure. If you pay the water bill, everyone in the town will get the same water pressure. Therefore, the utility company cannot reduce your electricity or water pressure. Speed is exactly what the cable company wants to do."
Legislation to prevent Internet providers from slowing down was opposed by the Republican Party in Congress and failed. However, some communities are responsible for providing their own services.
Highland, located to the east of the subway, owns and operates its own fiber-optic Internet service, serving approximately 10,000 residents of the city.
They charge $54 per month for Internet speeds that are twice as fast as the federal minimum standard and basic cable TV packages. They used 13 million U.S. dollars in government bonds to build the network, and the service fees were used to repay debts and expand services.
In order to be able to easily meet the speed of the eight children of Needles doing homework and playing videos online at the same time,
Highland charges $95 per month. A plan for retired couples who are mainly engaged in online shopping or web browsing. The monthly fee is US$25.
Angela Imming, head of communications services at Highland, said this is not a public utility because residents choose to join the service and it is not seen as a necessary infrastructure. But it is an alternative.
"People associate the lack of Internet access with rural areas, but that is not the case. Large companies also control urban areas," Yiming said.
When "the federal government says it doesn't matter where you live and we will still make sure you can drink water, 9-1-1 or an Internet connection, the Internet will become a practical tool," Imming added.
"That will be a utility."
Highland can only provide Internet services to people within the city limits. Once it completes its services to all residents—Imming hopes to do so next year—it can begin to expand to people in unincorporated areas.
Compared with traditional Internet companies, the cost of this city is relatively low, which is why they can provide residents with cheap services.
Decades ago, they did not pay for the installation of copper telephone lines.
"It is economically impossible to obtain fiber with a linear radius of only two miles," Yiming said. "It is not feasible for a company to decide that they want to do this."
Wisper CEO Stock said that Illinois people should be skeptical about turning the Internet into a utility. "I'm happy to charge you. You pay for the use of water. You pay for the use of electricity. Anyway, let me charge you for what you use on the Internet," Stoker said.
"But no one knows what they use on the Internet."
As more federal funds are used for broadband infrastructure, Stocker believes that the country may be moving in the direction of regulating the Internet like a utility company. He said that competing demands among Internet providers still exist.
"We don't have water competition. We don't have power to compete," Stoker said. "If the telephone company and the cable company do what they are supposed to do, then Wisper will have no reason. They will provide the service anywhere. There are business reasons why they don't do this, and this business reason still exists. Even if we are treated as public utilities, we must be there."
However, more and more municipalities are beginning to be interested in developing their own high-speed Internet services. Yiming said she listened to the leadership of Jacksonville, Greenville, and other Illinois town leaders.
"I expect it will start to become more intense now," she said.
How will Illinois use broadband infrastructure funding?
Illinois is expected to receive at least $100 million from the infrastructure agreement signed by President Joe Biden in November. The funds will be used to encourage private companies to expand their networks and will support existing national efforts.
Duckworth said there are two parts to broadband funding. The first one will help those who don't have any access rights and those who can't afford it. The two will overlap.
"Sometimes your community is inaccessible at any cost. We have to connect these communities,"
Duckworth said. "Then there is affordability. If it is $400 a month, it is not affordable." Infrastructure funding will support programs such as PC for People. The organization uses pandemic relief and state funds to provide low-cost computers and Internet hotspots at a price of $15 a month. They also help people get a $50 monthly connection allowance from the federal government.
"This is where we need it and continue to do what the initial pandemic funding started," Poe said. "This is what I hope to continue to do and close the gap."
Connecting the community to a reliable Internet will also be key. Needles said he would like to see infrastructure funds pay for more wired, reliable fiber access.
But this is expensive, about $80,000 per mile. Wisper CEO Stock said that wireless Internet is cheaper and installation is faster. They use fixed wireless broadband technology to provide the Internet-according to Stoker, its cost is 20% of the fiber installation.
Using $220 million from the federal Connect America Fund, Wisper expanded its network to 68 new towers in four states, including Illinois. Stoke said they plan to use funds from infrastructure transactions to continue their expansion, including the introduction of new technologies that will allow Wisper's Internet signals to penetrate tree coverage.
However, relatively few Illinoisans have nothing. Infrastructure funding is expected to help them get online and help those who cannot afford the service to pay for services, but reliability cannot be guaranteed.
The Broadband Office described infrastructure funding as "a historic level of funding used to improve the infrastructure that keeps our communities in touch." The state has developed a plan to develop broadband under the leadership of Governor JB Pritzker, and has begun to implement the plan through the Connect Illinois plan.
The office works with other groups, including the University of Illinois Extension Department, to help communities prepare to use federal infrastructure funds to improve the Internet. The Southwestern Illinois Leadership Council participates in the Illinois Connected Communities Program.
The state has set aside $420 million for broadband in Pritzker's Illinois infrastructure spending plan. At the southernmost tip of Illinois, grants are used to build wireless and fiber-optic Internet in Salt Marsh, Williamson, Johnson, Union, and other counties. To the east of the subway, a project will provide broadband service to the unserved area of Equus Lane south of Troy.
Pritzker said that the third round of Connect Illinois will soon provide Illinois communities with $350 million to achieve "universal access."
Yiming said the state will have to find ways to help underserved communities apply and win from federal bonuses.
"Some communities really find it difficult to clean up rubbish, get clean drinking water, and build roads," Yiming said. "They have so many other things that worry them that they didn't even think about it. When you say,'Hey, we need better choices and access rights,' it's too late."
Yiming said that she also hopes that the country will negotiate with local leaders and give them the power to spend.
"When you hand the money to the government to decide, it will go back to the lobbyist," Yiming said. "The local government has actually reached the final stage of ensuring that people have high-speed internet."
Schmidt, director of the Illinois Broadband Office, said they hope to work with the community.
"We really want the community to promote their broadband vision and become part of the conversation," Schmidt said.
As state leaders begin to decide how to use the millions of dollars that came to Illinois, Victor May will continue to pay his monthly bills of more than $300. He once considered moving just to get an affordable fast internet, and now he realizes that he shouldn't think that being close to a nearby internet line means access.
"I thought it was everywhere," he said.