Indiana making waves on bridging broadband gap
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As a subscriber you can listen to articles at work, in the car, or while you work out. Subscribe NowWhile Indiana continues to battle the digital divide–the gap between those who have and don’t have broadband access–there are significant signs of progress. State and federal funds totaling nearly $1.5 billion are being deployed to help connect the estimated 150,000 unserved or underserved Hoosier addresses.
Private sector companies are also getting engaged, including AT&T, which is in the midst of fiber projects in 12 Hoosier communities and regions, and it’s all part of what some are calling a once in a generation opportunity.
Purdue University Vice President for Engagement Roberto Gallardo said on Inside INdiana Business if someone is on the wrong side of the digital divide, it impacts their quality of life.
There are signs, however, that Indiana is moving the needle when it comes to connectivity. According to the Indiana Broadband Office, there were around 300,000 unserved or underserved addresses in Indiana three years ago. Today, that number is closer to 150,000.
Industry observers point to the state’s Next Level Connections and Indiana Connectivity Program created six years ago, which unleashed more than $600 million in federal, state and private funds.
Combined with Indiana’s $868 million allocation from the federal Broadband Equity, Access and Deployment program, or BEAD, Gallardo said the state is at a tipping point.
“We’re hoping that we continue to move the needle,” he said. “You’re never going to be at 100%. I mean, it’s just a reality. But I think we have a very good opportunity to get as close as you can to that 100% access wise, but also the quality again. We have a very unique opportunity once in a lifetime to really increase the quality of the service that’s available now.”
AT&T has inked 12 partnerships around the state to expand fiber broadband, the largest being a nearly $40 million project in Vanderburgh County that was completed in November.
“We’ve run fiber optics directly to every home and farm in the unincorporated Vanderburgh County. It’s about 20,000 locations,” AT&T Indiana President Bill Soards said. “It’s life changing. All of the kinds of things that have been talked about for years about precision agriculture and injecting new technology into Indiana’s farms, it’s becoming a reality.”
Most recently, AT&T marked the completion of a $4.4 million broadband project in Boonville. Soards said the complete broadband infrastructure project could take four to five years to complete, but could be transformational to Indiana’s economy.
“In Indiana, we care about agriculture, transportation, and manufacturing, and we know that the physical economy is ripe for transformation, ripe for additional efficiencies and growth, and that’s our sweet spot,” he said. “But with this last piece of last-mile connectivity, our hope is that it’s the missing ingredient to help propel Indiana’s economy farther faster.”
With the BEAD program, funding for which comes from the bipartisan Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act of 2021, broadband providers will have the opportunity later this year to submit proposals for infrastructure projects.
Our partners at the IBJ report the proposals can request that up to 75% of the project’s cost be subsidized by BEAD funding, and the projects selected for funding are expected to be named by the end of the year.