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Shawna Taets

Shawna Taets

Broadband Policy Manager at the Illinois Office of Broadband, guiding BEAD, digital equity, and broadband deployment policy across Illinois.

Sep 8, 2026

5:39
What did that experience teach you about adoption and affordability and like the bigger picture?
5:46
Absolutely.
5:46
So when I was working with Education Superhighway, the mission was really oriented around affordable internet access for every American.
5:54
So a key barrier to folks having a home internet subscription is that cost of service.
6:00
You might have the wires in your neighborhood, but if you can't afford the plan, then those wires aren't helpful to you.
6:06
And so through my time at Education Superhighway, I saw truly what a cost burden meant, I think, for a thinking that an $80 a month plan or an $100 a month plan should be feasible for most households.
6:21
That just really wasn't the reality that you saw on the grounds.

25 MINS LATER

31:42
What would you tell people that are considering entering the telecommunication sector? Is it something that's going to have a long term, a long, you know, a long runway? There's going to be a future opportunities there even beyond this.

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