If you look along the side of Interstate 70 and other highways in Illinois you will notice a series of orange fiber optic buried cable markers that follow the highway just like the one near this cache. This is part of the fiber optic system built with a grant to provide high speed internet to many schools, community colleges and other state institutions in rural, economically distressed communities across a 55 counties in Illinois. This part provides internet services to the nearby school system in Altamont.
The project constructed more than 1,000 miles of new fiber and upgraded over 1,000 miles of existing fiber as part of the Illinois Century Network (ICN), the state’s existing education network. More than 400 community anchor institutions were directly connected via fiber including 23 community colleges. This fiber backbone supports internet speeds of up to 1.6 terabits per second.
