Connect Macon County: What is the status in June 2026?

In February 2024, Heartland Newsfeed covered the Decatur press conference announcing the launch of the Connect Macon County initiative. However, as we near 2 1/2 years since the initiative launch, where does it stand as we near the end of the first half of 2026?

Phase 1: The 14-week study and building a formal broadband expansion

In the February 2024 press conference, Macon County leadership, the Macon County Farm Bureau, and the University of Illinois Extension initiated a rapid data-gathering campaign.

This campaign would involve a county-wide response via a survey to map dead zones for internet service in Macon County. This would help the coalition pinpoint underserved and unserved regions of the county.

The next step would be to establish a relationship with current internet service providers to build a formal broadband expansion “funnel.” This allows the county to legally challenge and adjust maps, while unlocking access to larger state and federal infrastructure grants.

Phase 2: The buildout in Macon County

Following the planning phase, the project shifted to active implementation. This included a prior commitment by the Macon County Board to an ongoing, multi-phase fiber rollout project with Shelby Fiber, a division of Shelby Electric Cooperative.

Outside of the limited details made available on its website in 2024, Shelby Electric Cooperative never provided additional details when asked for additional clarification and comments following the press release.

As a part of this project, the fiber-optic cables will be on its power poles rather than underground. This would require a massive utility overhaul, replacing over 1,600 utility poles in Macon County.

The buildout has spent the past several months actively acquiring updated infrastructure and land easements from land owners to finalize last-mile drops directly to homes.

The funding bottleneck

Outside of the Shelby Fiber project, the massive secondary countywide broadband expansion seems to be at a standstill.

The Macon County project relies on the $1.04 billion in funding through the Broadband Equity, Access, and Deployment (BEAD) allocation from the federal government.

The final BEAD proposal from the state appears to be in a federal approval standoff. Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker issued an urgent notice to Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick in May that providers have 232 shovel-ready projects in the queue. Secretary Lutnick has yet to address the letter.

Meanwhile, the projects remain stalled pending the release of the BEAD funds.

Who else has pending projects in Macon County?

Beyond the Shelby Electric / Shelby Fiber build in the south and southwestern parts of the county, there are several regional networks pushing infrastructure into parts of Macon County.

Rural providers

Rise Broadband is actively targeting fixed wireless and rural fiber in the northern, northeastern, and northwestern parts of the county. This includes Maroa, with further infrastructure going into DeWitt and Piatt counties.

Service providers like Wisper ISP and Nextlink will target the western farmland blocks heading toward Niantic and Harristown.

Frontier, Metro to target smaller municipalities

Frontier Communications, now a subsidiary of Verizon, will be deploying fiber to outlier towns like Argenta, Warrensburg, and Cerro Gordo. 100% fiber will be laid out on residential streets of these smaller towns.

Metro Communications will be focusing its efforts on the City of Macon and the south-central spine of the county.

CTI Fiber has been detailed as part of the project, but available details indicate that they have 1.5% overall. This means any portions of Macon County that might receive service through CTI Fiber would likely be along existing infrastructure.

Regional giants target Decatur, connected suburbs

Three regional giants will be focusing their efforts on Decatur and the connected suburbs of Forsyth and Mount Zion. Those include Xfinity, Sparklight, and AT&T.

The Decatur area and its connected suburbs are already part of Xfinity and Sparklight’s core target region. Their efforts will lie on high-density grid lines, commercial business districts, and heavy residential subdivisions.

For AT&T, its Fiber division will focus on locally restricted target zones centered within Decatur’s dense inner neighborhoods and central business zones, where it can transition existing corporate DSL boxes over to high-capacity fiber lines.