Company’s recent and planned fiber expansions drive economic growth in county
May 11, 2022 – Comcast Business today announced extensions of its advanced fiber-rich network infrastructure to two DeKalb County locations. Expected to come online this month, the first extension will run along East Gurler Road in the ChicagoWest Business Center, home to a major data center undergoing an expansion, a large distribution center and the site of anticipated business growth. Comcast Business first extended its network to ChicagoWest last year and is moving deeper into the area with this latest project. Expected to come online in early 2023, the second extension will serve Park 88, a 565-acre business park located in the I-39 Logistics Corridor in DeKalb.
When the projects are complete, businesses along the expansion routes will have access to Internet speeds up to 100 Gigabits per second (Gbps). They’ll also have access to Comcast Business’ full suite of telecommunications services, which provide levels of connectivity, capacity and technology capable of supporting more and more employees working at home and in the field; reaching and serving more and more customers online; exchanging large amounts of data; and accessing sophisticated cloud-based applications.
“Our location along Interstates 88 and 39; proximity to the City of Chicago, O’Hare and several other airports; available land for manufacturing and warehousing; and the presence of Northern Illinois University makes DeKalb County attractive to business sectors ranging from warehousing to manufacturing, as well as professionals, academicians and students,” said DeKalb County Chairman John Frieders. “Comcast’s investments in DeKalb County’s technology infrastructure not only drive economic growth, they’re helping us prepare for the future.”
The upcoming projects follow fiber expansions last year reaching existing and future businesses within the Sycamore Prairie Business Park along Bethany and Peace Roads in Sycamore and the ChicagoWest Business Center bordered by East Gurler Road and South 4th Street in DeKalb. In addition to providing opportunities to serve more customers, network investments of this caliber are designed to drive economic development by helping these areas retain and attract businesses.
“Our message is resonating. Companies have invested $1 billion in DeKalb County in recent years, translating into 5.2 million square feet of new industrial space and 1,700 jobs,” said Paul Borek, Executive Director of the DeKalb County Economic Development Corporation. “No doubt about it: State-of-the-art connectivity and technology attract new businesses.”
“We see ourselves as more than a service provider. Comcast is an economic development partner,” said Sean McCarthy, Comcast’s Regional Vice President of Business Development and Strategic Initiatives. “Our fiber is helping DeKalb County and Illinois overall attract businesses representing growing sectors of our economy, ranging from data centers to warehouses.
Comcast delivers residential download speeds up to 1.2 Gbps in all the communities and neighborhoods in the company’s service footprint, regardless of zip code, and up to 3 Gbps in locations in the county – and up to 100 Gbps for businesses. The company also operates more than 20 million WiFi hotspots nationwide – more than 15,000 in DeKalb County alone – which allow connectivity on the go.
In addition, Comcast supports the DeKalb County Economic Development Corporation and its Opportunity Unbound Initiative, which is designed to attract talented workers, young professionals and families to work and live in DeKalb County by creating awareness of the county’s amenities, attractions and communities.
Additional advanced Comcast Business services available in DeKalb County include:
- ActiveCoreSM SDN, a software-defined networking (SDN) platform providing businesses intelligent, centralized control for their networks via software applications like Managed Router and SD-WAN;
- Cybersecurity Services, reducing vulnerability to denial of service (DDoS) attacks and helping protect business infrastructure with managed security solutions; and
- Comcast Business VoiceEdgeTM, a fully managed, scalable cloud-based voice system providing unified communications (UC) tools that can improve communication, enhance collaboration and help businesses increase productivity.
About Comcast Business
Comcast Business offers a suite of Connectivity, Communications, Networking, Cybersecurity, Wireless, and Managed Solutions to help organizations of different sizes prepare for what’s next. Powered by the nation’s largest Gig-speed broadband network, and backed by 24/7 customer support, Comcast Business is the nation’s largest cable provider to small and mid-size businesses and one of the leading service providers to the Enterprise market. Comcast Business has been consistently recognized by industry analysts and associations as a leader and innovator, and one of the fastest growing providers of Ethernet services.
For more information, call 866-429-3085. Follow on Twitter @ComcastBusiness and on other social media networks at http://business.comcast.com/social.
With nearly 6,000 local employees, Comcast’s Greater Chicago Region (https://chicago.comcast.com) serves customers in central and northern Illinois, including the Chicago area, Northwest Indiana and Southwest Michigan. “Like” Comcast’s Greater Chicago Region on Facebook by visiting @Comcast. “Follow” Comcast’s Greater Chicago Region on Twitter at @ComcastIllinois.
