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The latest on the Key Bridge collapse, New York puts forth legislation to get clean energy projects on the grid and Wisconsin and other states join a federal summer food program to help feed kids across the country.

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Republicans float conspiracy theories on the collapse of Baltimore's Key Bridge, South Carolina s congressional elections will use a map ruled unconstitutional, and the Senate schedules an impeachment trial for Homeland Secretary Myorkas.

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Historic wildfires could create housing and health issues for rural Texans, a Kentucky program helps prison parolees start a new life, and descendants of Nicodemus, Kansas celebrate the Black settlers who journeyed across the 1870s plains seeking self-governance.

Proposal Would Open Doors to Faster Internet for All Illinoisans

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Thursday, February 5, 2015   

SPRINGFIELD, Ill. - The head of the Federal Communications Commission is proposing to reclassify the Internet the same as a utility, which would improve access for rural Illinoisans.

FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler announced yesterday he will seek to have the Internet regulated under Title II of the Communications Act.

Whitney Kimball Coe, program associate for the Center for Rural Strategies says it would create a free and open Internet for everyone.

"The ability to communicate and to have access to places where you can contribute knowledge and also gain knowledge, that just seems to be a basic human right at this point," she says. "Rural folks are pretty used to being in the slow lane, and I think we're tired of it and we're looking for greater access."

The proposal allows the creation of regulations to ban paid prioritization of content and services across all Internet platforms including mobile broadband. It's estimated that more than half of rural Americans have no access to high-speed Internet.

Much of the debate over net neutrality has centered around Internet providers who want to charge fees for fast-speed lanes on their networks. But Kimball Coe says it's more than that for rural Illinoisans.

"While net neutrality has become a big issue, we're still talking about the need for access and not just talking about wanting a faster Internet," she says. "We want to actually get on the Internet."

Opponents argue the proposal is overreaching and would stifle investment and customer choice. The commission must approve the proposal, and a vote is expected Feb. 26.


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