Committee to discuss community fiber-optic network

CHAMPAIGN – A proposal to install a community-owned fiber-optic network throughout Champaign-Urbana would cost at least $30 million – possibly as much as $35 million.

But with the federal government possibly providing up to 80 percent of that cost through its stimulus program, the cities and the University of Illinois can't afford to miss what amounts to "an amazing opportunity," said Michael Smeltzer, director of networking for the UI, who is leading a public effort locally to apply for the federal funding.

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