CTI will expand fiber network to Nokomis

NOKOMIS (Heartland Newsfeed) — CTI, also known as Computer Techniques, Inc., a fiber broadband Internet provider from Taylorville, has recently announced to Hillsboro. With much hard work by residents, community leaders and the Montgomery County Economic Development Corporation (MCEDC), Nokomis was able to secure the required level of interest and will be the second community included in the expansion for commercial and residential customers in Nokomis.

CTI is currently in their final months of a deployment plan to install fiber services in Taylorville, a project that has been going on for nearly five years. CTI put Taylorville on the map as one of few communities in Illinois offering an Internet connection up to 1 gigabit (Gbit), with the utilization of fiber optic cables which provides a connection that’s both more reliable and of a better quality than the current competition — Consolidated Communications Inc. out of Mattoon and NewWave Communications out of Sikeston, Mo. — and some bigger names which may offer services in the area like AT&T, Comcast and Frontier.

The company started their search for possible expansion areas in October 2016, outlining specific criteria for communities, such as school district success, population changes, demographics and a desire for fiber services for businesses and residents. Communities who were in consideration in addition to Hillsboro and Nokomis included that of Pana, Litchfield, Rochester, Morrisonville, Raymond and Stonington — all of which met their criteria.

It was through a major push by MCEDC, along with other core fiber proponent groups, to demonstrate to CTI that there’s a strong desire for fiber services in the county. CTI worked with MCEDC to garner pre-signups throughout the county and now in addition to Hillsboro, Nokomis joins the select group of communities offering a gigabit fiber network.

CTI is currently in the process of securing $5 million in funding commitments from local banks, leading up to construction beginning as early as October from Taylorville to Nokomis, connecting subscribers within Nokomis’ business district as early as next spring, with construction continuing toward Hillsboro. The three-year project will return to Nokomis in the fall of 2019 (and possibly earlier, depending on how the Hillsboro portion of the project goes) to connect residential customers. CTI is still accepting pre-signups in other communities and will determine other service areas based on consumer demand. Interested individuals can also contact CTI with any questions by calling (217) 824-6398 or by going to their website at ctitech.com.