Extras: Big Broadband

A consortium composed of the cities of Urbana and Champaign and the University of Illinois submitted in August three related proposals to the federal government applying for stimulus funding to improve broadband Internet access in the area.

But why does Urbana-Champaign need “big broadband” Internet service in the first place? How will the proposed network connect homes and community institutions? How will this network be paid for and governed? How does the technology work and what does this all mean?

Click here to watch, listen and read on for answers to these questions and more, straight from proposal organizers and community members whose access to the Internet and technology may improve if UC2B receives federal funding. 

Credits: 

Two months went into gathering, editing and producing the content for this site, completed as the final project for JOUR 480 Digital Newsroom in fall 2009.This project by the University of Illinois Department of Journalism and College of Media was supported by a grant from the Marajen Stevick Chinigo Foundation.

Unless otherwise noted, all content on this site - as well as the site itself - was created by Marie Wilson, senior in News-Editorial Journalism and Gender and Women’s Studies at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.