Bucolic Barrington Hills hotbed of technology

By Madhu Krishnamurthy

Mark Welsh, Staff Photographer

Nestled among rolling hills, massive horse farms, 5-acre minimum lot homes and thousands of acres of forest preserve, Barrington Hills remains unadulterated by suburban sprawl.

Straddling roughly 29 square miles over four counties — Cook, Kane, Lake and McHenry — the village has little more than 3,900 residents, lots of trees and open space.

But along with the benefits of living in a quintessential rural setting comes spotty cellular phone service and dropped Internet connections.

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Quincy, UK firm continue to work toward fiber optics network

sewer party
Image by gnackgnackgnack via Flickr

By MATT HOPF
Herald-Whig Staff Writer

Quincy [IL] and a United Kingdom-based company remain in contact in hopes of reaching an agreement to install a fiber-optic network throughout the city.

The City Council approved a pilot project in September that allowed the company to install 1,300 feet of fiber-optic cable in municipal sewer lines along South 46th Street.

The cable is laid on the bottom of sewers and anchored down with mats, a process that has been used in the UK.

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On Tuesday Morning, Illinois Broadband Advocates Gather for Better Broadband and Better Lives

Old State Capitol Illinois Springfield
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Drew Clark, Expert Opinion,

SPRINGFIELD, Illinois, September 28, 2010 – Broadband high-speed internet services are stimulating the economy, creating jobs and enhancing lives in Illinois through enhanced telemedicine, training, and public safety benefits.

On Tuesday, dozens of federal broadband stimulus recipients will gather together in Springfield, Illinois, to celebrate and plan how more than $351 million in federal, state and private investment will be used to build infrastructure and frontline programs to eliminate the digital divide.

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Frontier Invests $40 million in Illinois Broadband

Frontier Communications logo at Frontier Build...

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Rural CSP Frontier Communications plans to spend $40 million to expand broadband in Illinois in 2011.  This move is part of Frontier’s goal to provide 85% of its Illinois customers with broadband by 2013.

Frontier recently acquired $8.6 billion in wireline assets from Verizon, and now provides service to 670,000 phone and Internet customers in primarily rural Illinois. The $40 million investment in represents a three-fold increase over Verizon’s investment plan for the region.

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