The state of Indiana has tentatively awarded $81.5 million to cover some of the costs of deploying high-speed broadband to unserved areas of the state. Awards were made through the state’s Next Level Connections Broadband Grant Program.
Providers will contribute additional funding to the projects, which will cost $216 million in total and are expected to bring service to more than 34,000 homes and businesses.
Comcast was the biggest winner and will take home over $9.4 million for deployments in several counties. The cable company was closely followed by another cableco – Charter, which is slated to receive nearly $9.3 million.
The third biggest winner was Surf Internet, a company focused on the Great Lakes region that has been quite successful at winning grants from the states that it serves. Surf was founded in 2001 as a fixed wireless provider but began installing fiber broadband in 2017. The company’s awards in this round of Next Level Connections total over $8.5 million.
Berry Comm, a company founded in 2015 and focused solely on Indiana, was the fourth biggest winner and is expected to receive over $7 million for buildouts in several counties.
The fifth biggest winner in the Indiana broadband awards program was AT&T, which is slated to take home nearly $6.6 million. It was followed by Clay County Rural Telephone Cooperative. The local provider, founded in 1950, is on tap to receive over $6 million.
Major telecom providers Brightspeed and Frontier also are slated to receive funding. Brightspeed’s awards total over $5.5 million, while Frontier won a $2.5 million award for a single county.
Also among the winners were several rural electric membership cooperatives and several small companies serving rural areas of the state, including incumbent carriers and competitive providers.
Seventeen providers in total are expected to receive funding, including:
- AT&T
- Berry Comm
- Brightspeed
- Charter
- Clay County RTC/ Endeavor Communications
- Comcast
- Davies Martin RTC
- Decatur County REMC
- Frontier
- Jasper County REMC
- Joink
- Kosciusko Connect
- Mainstream Fiber
- Mercury Broadband
- Miles Communications
- New Lisbon Broadband & Communications
- Surf Internet
This was the fourth and final round in the Next Level Connections broadband program. Since its inception, the program has awarded $328 million to connect more than 102,000 locations.
“These projects will help bridge the digital divide many Hoosiers experience and enhance the overall quality of life for our rural communities,” said Duke Bennet, executive director of the Indiana Office of Community and Rural Affairs, which administers the program, in a prepared statement.
Additional information about the program and awards can be found at this link.
Additional information about Indiana broadband, including links to state funding resources, awards made, state specific Telecompetitor coverage, and more, can be found on the Telecompetitor Broadband Nation webpage for the state.
