Godfrey Approves Fiber Network Agreement After Reconsideration

Village of Godfrey Board of Trustees

GODFREY – A new fiber optic network will be built in Godfrey after trustees reconsidered a previously rejected proposal from Socket Fiber.

Village Board members unanimously approved a right-of-way license agreement with Socket Telecom, LLC (Socket Fiber) to install a residential and commercial fiber network in Godfrey at their June 16, 2026 meeting.

This comes nearly a month after trustees unanimously rejected the company’s proposal amid concerns the new network would overlap too heavily with existing fiber networks in the village. After Trustees Rick Lauschke and Gerard Fischer were presented with new information addressing these concerns, they asked their fellow board members to reconsider.

Matt Kohly with Socket Fiber returned to Village Hall on June 16 to explain in more detail after making the company’s previous presentation. While the new network may overlap in some areas, Kohly said it will mostly target neighborhoods currently without any other fiber network provider.

“I think when I was here before, there was a misconception that we were simply just going to come into town, serve where everybody else did, and bring no new benefit to the community,” Kohly said. “Our goal here is not to come in and overbuild anybody else, that makes no sense … what we did is do our research to find out where other providers are and look for opportunities to go into new markets where no other fiber provider is serving.”

Kohly said the network will span the areas of Fox Run Drive to the north, Clifton Terrace Road to the southwest, and North Alby Street to the southeast. Trustee Craig Lombardi thanked Kohly for clarifying, adding there are “a lot of gaps in Godfrey that we’re missing” which will be addressed by the new network.

Village Engineer Rich Beran described the agreement as a “win-win” for residents and the village alike, adding that it’s better for Socket and the village to work collaboratively. As Beran previously explained in a memo to trustees, Godfrey cannot stop Socket from installing the network, but they do have the power to regulate it.

“As long as the company is properly authorized under Illinois law, the Village cannot prohibit Socket Fiber from installing and operating a fiber network in the public right of way,” Beran states in the memo. “We can, however, regulate the construction standards, location, traffic control, etc.”

A full recording of the June 16, 2026 Godfrey Village Board meeting is available at the top of this story or on Riverbender.com/video.