Broadway Broadband announces partnership to boost signal in central Indiana

Listen to this story

Subscriber Benefit

As a subscriber you can listen to articles at work, in the car, or while you work out. Subscribe Now

This audio file is brought to you by

0:00

0:00

Loading audio file, please wait.

Speed
1.00

• 0.25
• 0.50
• 0.75
• 1.00
• 1.25
• 1.50
• 1.75
• 2.00

Internet connectivity is often cited as a vital resource to help rural communities grow and a new partnership is hoping to improve access in central Indiana.

On Tuesday, Broadway Broadband announced a vendor partnership with Indianapolis-based OCM Engineering. The companies said in a release that the partnership’s goal is to bring high-speed fiber networks to Broadway customers in central Indiana.

Headquartered in Peru, Broadway Broadband is owned by the public utility group Miami-Cass REMC, and REMC CEO Rob Schwartz said he’s excited for the deal.

“Our vendor relationship with OCM is focused on ensuring every household and business in our services areas can access the digital world. The relationship is part of our success, enabling us to build and expand our network effectively.”

Broadway Broadband says OCM has already been helping in rolling out the internet network including design work and managing the projects in Cass, Miami, Carroll and White counties.

Broadway paints the new vendor agreement as the latest move towards growth in the past few years. The internet providers also lists a number of grants its received for projects recently including:

Miami-Cass REMC has secured significant funding through various grants over the past few years. Notably, these efforts include:

• Cass County Fiber Ring: A 119-mile, $1.8 million project coordinated through the Cass County Commissioners.
• Cass County READI Grant: A 202-mile, $5.2 million project coordinated through the Cass County Commissioners.
• Carroll County Fiber Ring: A 160-mile, $3.1 million project coordinated through the Carroll County Commissioners.
• Miami County Fiber Project: A 23-mile, $620,000 project coordinated through the Miami County Commissioners.
• The Rural Digital Opportunity Fund (RDOF), which supports 3,391 locations in Indiana, and nearly $5.9 million from the Next Level Connections Broadband Grant Program to serve 1,359 homes and businesses across several counties.
• The Indiana Connectivity Program, totaling part of $654,678, has supported broadband expansion in underserved areas.