The Broadband Access Committee, part of the Champaign-Urbana Cable Television and Telecommunications Commission, hosted a forum Saturday to address questions and concerns regarding a proposal that would decrease costs of broadband Internet in the area.

Members of the Urbana-Champaign Big Broadband (UC2B) Committee submitted a proposal seeking $28.3 million in federal funding to provide low-cost Internet services to underserved neighborhoods and public computing centers, according to the UC2B website. Under this proposal, residents would have the option of buying Internet access through a govenment network.

The Illinois General Assembly already approved the proposal and the Federal Government should make a decision on it by the end of the year, according to the UC2B website.

A major part of the operation would include laying fiber optic cables in strategic locations to provide low-cost Internet to 137 schools and 250 households in northern Champaign that are currently “underserved,” according to Peter Folk, member of the UC2B Committee and owner of Volo Broadband.

The committee said it hopes that all the participating areas will have connectivity by 2012, he said. However, the proposal will not work unless local citizens decide to purchase Internet access through this system.

According to Folk’s estimates, approximately 2,600 people of the Champaign-Urbana area would have to pledge support to the project for it to work.

Abdul Alkalimat, member of the UC2B Committee, said the proposal would also create jobs for construction workers and a public technology help desk for those encountering Internet and computer problems.

Community members expressed concerns over the amount of money being spent on this project.

Danielle Chynoweth, member of the UC2B committee, said Champaign had already committed to a project to revamp the current broadband infrastructure, but this plan is a more sustainable way to go about it.

“The same budget is going toward ‘to own’ instead of ‘to rent,'” she said.

Pete Resnick, chair of the Broadband Access Committee, said he thought the forum was successful.

“We had at least a couple participants who were expressing concerns about the real brass tax of the proposal,” he said. “And I think people came away with a much better understanding of why this is really not just socially good, but a good investment for the city.”

Deloris Henry of Champaign attended the forum because the proposal is important to her.

“I think it will be an opportunity to help the entire community, especially the underserved part of the community,” Henry said. “And I’m just especially excited to see that the public schools are involved.”