Lake Zurich clears way for another broadband option in town
Lake Zurich residents and businesses will be getting another choice for high-speed broadband internet services.
The village board Monday approved an agreement allowing Ezee Fiber Texas LLC to use the public rights of way to install a villagewide fiber optic network in town.
Ezee Fiber joins i3 Broadband in receiving the board’s backing for installation of a fiber optic network.
“We certainly welcome the opportunity of providing the residents with a choice of higher speeds to take advantage of all the things that are on the internet, which consumes a tremendous amount of bandwidth,” said Assistant Village Manager Michael Duebner.
Lake Zurich approved a right-of-way agreement with i3 in August 2024. Construction began last spring in the village business park, branched into neighborhoods south of Route 22 and now is heading west, Duebner said.
Last summer, Houston-based Ezee Fiber announced a $400 million expansion into the Chicago area, with installation starting in late 2025. Its planned multiyear, phased build-out in Lake Zurich will start later this year or early 2027 on the west side of the village and work east. Three-day, 30-day, and 45-day notices will be provided to residents near construction areas.
“Our goal with this project is to give the community a new option for internet service,” said Allen Rauth, the company’s director of government affairs. “It's internet built for the future and the technology that runs it.”
Rauth said the company has agreements with about 50 communities in Illinois, and are operating in about five of them.
Ezee Fiber and i3 are the only “pure broadband” providers at this point, Duebner said, with AT&T and Comcast also offering other services. Mayor Tom Poynton asked how many providers can fit in easements.
“I don't expect we'll have a third or a fourth or a fifth other than existing providers transitioning to fiber from their existing copper-based infrastructure,” Duebner said.
Poynton told Rauth i3 “is doing a good job of not making a huge mess out there so we’re expecting the same thing from you.” Rauth assured him Ezee Fiber would do the same thing if not better.