Indianapolis, IN—Governor Eric J. Holcomb today announced $22.1 million in funding for 11 broadband expansion infrastructure projects across the state as a part of the initial round of the Next Level Broadband program.
This funding will provide broadband infrastructure to more than 4,800 homes and commercial locations in 12 counties.
The $100 million program is the largest single-state investment in broadband. For the initial round of funding, service providers could apply for up to $5 million per project to expand service to unserved areas if they provided at least a 20 percent match. Unserved areas are those without at least one telecommunication provider offering internet fast enough to provide the most basic services – at least 10 Mbps download and 1 Mbps upload.
The only grant for southeastern Indiana was awarded to was to Miles Communication Corporation of Bartholomew, Jennings and Shelby counties. Their program will serve approximately 366 unserved households and 135 unserved businesses, in primarily rural portions of Bartholomew, Jennings and Shelby counties in southeastern Indiana. The requested grant amount is $2.8 million with a local match of $2.9 million, for a total project cost of more than $5.7 million.
