Illinois Broadband Deployment Council (BDC) Minutes

June 2, 2008

CHICAGO (THOMPSON CENTER) ATTENDEES:

Matt Brady, Federal Signal; Dave Huff, Adesta; Jerry Field, IIT; Steve Rafferty, Morse Communications; Nirmal Chudgar, Federal Signal; Nancy Emrich, Benton Foundation; Nancy Moersch, IL Foundation for Quality Healthcare; Doug Power, NIU Broadband Development Group; Katherine Dawkins, Digital Educator; Layton Olson, Howe & Hutton; Wendy Farley, Comcast; Ray Williams, DCEO; Frances Roehm, Skokie Public Library; Gabino Noriega, CPS; Victor Herrera, CPS; Charles Benton, Benton Foundation; Deborah Strauss, Lumity; Alan Kraus, NIU Broadband Development Group; Bruce Montgomery, Montgomery & Co.;

Staff Attendee: Marlena Jentz

SPRINGFIELD (STRATTON BUILDING) ATTENDEES:

Michael Gaines, IL Department of Public Health; Marybeth Lauderdale, IL School for the Deaf; Faith Bishop, IL State Board of Education; Bruce Cooper, NOW Wireless; Jim Zolnierek, ICC; Pete Wagner, ICC; Bud Green, ICC; Diana Dummit, UIUC College of Medicine; Jeff Gerhardt, Wonder Lake Network; Michael Dickson, WIU; Sara Froelich, Office of Senator Durbin; Stacie Barton, Office of Senator Durbin; Deborah Seale, SIU School of Medicine; Mary O'Brian, IL Deaf & Hard of Hearing Commission; Herb Kuryliw, NIU; Mark Kinkade, IDOT; Douglas Wilson, USDA; Louie Midiri, IDOT; Herb Kuryliw, NIU; Deno Perdiou, at&t;

Staff Attendees: Carolyn Brown Hodge (CBH), Holly Copeland, Israel Salazar, Cameron Schilling

TELECONFERENCE ATTENDEES

John Scrivner, Mt. Vernon.net; Jody Johnson, University of Illinois Extension; Ken Cohen, Hughes; John Lowry, IL Association of Electric Cooperatives; Tiffany Macke, University of Illinois Extension; James Carlini, Carlini & Associaties; Kim Harber; Michael Kozeliski, LOEA; Tim Collins, WIU; Karen Poncin, WIU; Kay Shipman, FarmWeek; Colleen Dealey; Peggy Jones, Illinois Heart Association; Terry Sullivan, Shiloh CUSD; Dave Loomis, ISU; Jason Bird, City of Princeton; Clyde Kober, Norlight; Skip Brinkley, Norlight; Joe Boehle, CPS; Ted Young, ITHA; Karen Archer Perry, Karacomm; Terry Madsen, University of Illinois Extension; Mike Voll, CONXX; Dan Hamilton; Pierre Clark, Chicago Digital Access Alliance; Jamie Gilchrist, Wildfire; Roger Watwood, City of Marshall

Minutes from 3/6/07 were approved.

Agenda items

CBH: As always – we have lots to get through so please be brief in your presentations.

$21 million FCC Rural Health Pilot grant

Kraus: The Illinois Rural HealthNet consortium won the third largest grant nationwide to connect hospitals. When the project is done, all of the facilities in the state can be linked to an ultrafast statewide health care network. Strict FCC rules dictate the boundaries of the program; we are building the Rural HealthNet nonprofit according to these rules and in collaboration with 5 committees comprised of many people here today.

Potential Broadband Implications of 2008 Farm Bill

Olson: The 2002 farm bill (which started the USDA broadband loan programs, for example) is being replaced by a new 2008 version that’s 673 pages long and $289 billion strong. I'd like to call attention to the new broadband provisions that could affect Illinois.

Low-cost laptops for Illinois schoolchildren

Copeland: Reviewed our work to bring computers to more deserving kids. Packets of information are available by request for teachers, parents or administrators interested in setting up a local laptop pilot.

 Committee reports & recommendations

CBH: Three subcommittees met over several months to work on a vision for making Illinois the best broadband state in the US. Each committee came up with a list of recommendations for Illinois. The full reports are online at.

Department of Commerce & Economic Opportunity update:

Williams: The Request for Applications for the “broadband nonprofit” required by the 2007 High Speed Internet and Information Technology Act will be released before June 30. The $4 million fund being transferred from the Commerce Commission to DCEO is number 0444.

Also, DCEO received about 275 applications for a grant program that funds public computer labs.

Cable and Video Competition Law

Perdiou: at&t has invested in 1,400 new tech jobs and put 1.3 million dollars worth of equipment into new broadband services made possible by the cable reform law of 2007.

Mounting wireless equipment on government property

Stapleton: wanted to follow-up on my comments at the March meeting. In March I mentioned that IDOT is letting wireless companies use its assets to mount equipment, but other local and state agencies are not.

Broadband technology professional training programs

Field: discussed new BA/MA programs for people who may want to work in the broadband industry.

Wireless broadband in public safety

Brady: In London wireless equipment is saving costs and lives through license plate recognition. This could work in Illinois. Slides are on pages 8-11 of your packet.

New Community Wireless Grantees

CBH: We had with nearly 50 applications for our $10,000-and-under grant program to help communities set up wireless zones in public areas. A map and summary of each project is on pages 12-13 of your packet.

Vince DeMuzio Rural Broadband Pilot

Power: We are coming to the end of our project timeline for the state-supported broadband project underway in Macoupin and Montgomery counties. Tremendous progress has been made.

Utilities Telecom Council APEX Award

Bird: I want to share some good news about a new honor for the city of Princeton. The award announcement is on page 14 of your packet.

McHenry County CTC program & open fiber networks white paper

Gerhardt: We are working on a Community Technology Training Center in McHenry County and would like to invite people to work with us on this.

Helping doctors implement electronic health records:

Moersch: Wanted to introduce myself and the IL Foundation for Quality Healthcare to the BDC.

Event announcements

Olson: Many upcoming state and national technology events we should know about. My handouts are on pages 15-16 of your packet.

Next meeting

CBH: We haven't picked a date yet; it will be after labor day.

Now available on the BDC “wiki” website

CBH: Page 17 of your packet has a few charts about Illinois broadband – one about where we rank in comparison to other states, and one about the impact of wireless technology on our state economy. These charts are from 2 of the latest reports we posted on the Broadband Wiki ( http://illinoisbroadbanddeployment.pbwiki.com/ ). We also use the wiki to track projects across the state.

Please take a copy of the Lt. Governor Quinn’s annual report.