Western Indiana partnership to provide more broadband access
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A Nashville, Indiana-based fiber optic provider and a Bloomfield-based electric company are partnering to develop projects expanding broadband access for rural residents of western Indiana.
Mainstream Fiber Networks says it will work with unserved and underserved areas within the Utilities District of Western Indiana REMC’s service area, which includes Greene and parts of Clay, Daviess, Lawrence, Martin, Monroe, Owen, Putnam, Knox, Sullivan, and Vigo counties.
UDWI will assist Mainstream in finding such areas and placing “strategically located fiber backbones,” the companies said. The goal is to connect at least 80% of residents in that region.
Neither company released specific areas or costs related to the overall project.
“This strategic partnership will allow Mainstream and UDWI to utilize the electric distribution infrastructure already in place to significantly reduce the cost of building a fiber network,” UDWI CEO Doug Childs said in a news release. “This project will substantially improve the quality of life for all of our members, and confirms our dedication to finding efficient pathways to increase fiber access across our service territory.”
The two companies will seek federal and state grant funding to support the projects.
Project construction could begin this quarter. The partnership will last at least five years with each backbone project taking about a year each.