HYDE PARK — Chicagoans can advocate for their share of $1 billion in internet infrastructure funding by taking online speed tests in the coming weeks, local researchers say.
The Illinois BEAD Challenge opened Tuesday. It’s a process through which the state will ask for changes to a federal map of areas in need of high-speed broadband internet service.
Illinois received $1.04 billion in federal broadband equity funds last year to support the state’s efforts to “connect all homes and businesses to modern high-speed internet,” officials said.
Map updates through the challenge process will help ensure federal funds “go where they are needed,” with priority given to unserved and underserved homes and businesses, officials said.
“Unserved” areas see download speeds of 25 megabits per second or less and upload speeds of 3 megabits per second or less. “Underserved” areas see download speeds of 100 megabits per second or less and upload speeds of 20 megabits per second or less.
To participate, neighbors must take a speed test via an official speed test website on three separate dates and submit the results of each. All three test results must be submitted by March 18.
For instructions on how to properly test and submit results, click here. For questions about the challenge process, review the state’s challenge guide or contact the University of Chicago’s Internet Equity Initiative at internetequity@uchicago.edu.
Why This Matters
UChicago researchers and state officials said this week they hope the challenge process can bring needed improvements to areas where neighbors aren’t getting the internet performance they pay for.
For example, South Shore neighbors have for years complained of a “digital divide” in the city which limits their ability to maintain a quality internet connection as they work, study and play from home.
Past research suggests “people in South Shore were paying the same amount for speeds that their northerly neighbors were paying, but not getting that [same] quality of service,” Alexis Schrubbe, director of the Internet Equity Initiative, said in December.
However, much of the neighborhood — and virtually the entire South Side — is considered “served” by high-speed internet under the current BEAD Challenge map, and would be ineligible for the federal money.
To paint a more accurate picture of internet access in Chicago, it’s critical that speed test participants submit their name, address and the broadband speed they pay for along with their results, said Nicole Marwell, co-principal investigator for the Internet Equity Initiative.
“A challenge is not considered valid unless it has all the person’s info,” Marwell said. “All of that is there on the [speed test] site for users to fill in, and they really have to fill it all in, or [by law] their challenge won’t be taken.”
“It might feel weird” to offer up that information, but the Internet Equity Initiative won’t sell or use the data for anything other than the challenge process, Marwell said.
This is the first time the federal government has given states such control over the broadband maps, Illinois officials said.
The challenge phase will be followed by a validation of all challenges through mid-April. Challenges which meet the state’s criteria will be subject to rebuttals from internet service providers, which can either demonstrate why the challenge is invalid or accept the challenge through early May.
Final determinations on challenges are expected to be announced by early summer. Homes and businesses deemed “unserved” are guaranteed to receive broadband connections.
After unserved locations are connected, the remaining funds will be used to bolster “underserved” locations, then supply “anchor institutions” like hospitals, libraries and schools with internet speeds of 1,000 megabits per second, officials said.
The challenge process is separate from an ongoing study of internet inequities across the city, through which UChicago researchers are also gathering data to push for broadband infrastructure upgrades.
After receiving no input from South Shore residents due to a suspected mail mishap, researchers received about 100 submissions from neighbors following Block Club’s report on the situation, Schrubbe said this week.
Eligible South Shore residents will receive a speed-testing device to plug into a wifi router, which keeps users anonymous and does not track their activity, researchers said. They’ll also get a $50 gift card for completing the study.
The device “only looks outward to the quality of internet their home is getting, never inwards at what someone is doing on the internet,” project manager Nzinga Barberousse said. “I often say it’s like a home’s water gauge, which can see how much water you are using, but doesn’t know if it’s going to the kitchen or bathroom or a pool.”
To apply to participate in the study, click here. For more information, click here. For frequently asked questions about the study, click here.
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Support Local News!
Subscribe to Block Club Chicago, an independent, 501(c)(3), journalist-run newsroom. Every dime we make funds reporting from Chicago’s neighborhoods. Already subscribe? Click here to gift a subscription, or you can support Block Club with a tax-deductible donation.
Listen to the Block Club Chicago podcast: