Together with the Indiana Broadband Office (IBO) and the Indiana Office of Community & Rural Affairs (OCRA), Comcast is building reliable, high-speed Internet access to unserved and underserved communities in Indiana.
The joint $55 million investment will kick off the latest collaborative effort between OCRA, the IBO, and Comcast under Indiana’s Next Level Connections broadband grant program.
“Our goal is to ensure that every Indiana resident has access to high-speed, reliable, affordable broadband access,” Indiana Lt. Governor Suzanne Crouch said. “Connecting every corner of Indiana will require policymakers, community leaders, and service providers to work together to close the digital divide—with this joint investment, Comcast has committed to helping us make that happen.”
The joint investment will enable Comcast to build Internet to rural, unserved and underserved portions of Boone, Morgan, Shelby, Miami, Delaware, Fayette and Rush counties, empowering each community to meet the growing connectivity needs of their residents and businesses.
“The collaborative efforts between the IBO, OCRA and Comcast will not only empower residents and supercharge businesses, but will literally connect them to a better quality of life,” said Steve Cox, Indiana’s Chief Broadband Officer. “This partnership represents years of effort to connect thousands of Hoosiers to tomorrow’s digital world—the progress we’ve made wouldn’t be possible without providers like Comcast continuing to invest in Indiana.”
Over the past three years alone, Comcast has invested more than $500 million to increase Internet speeds, deliver reliable WiFi throughout customers’ homes and businesses, and to bridge the digital divide in rural Indiana.
“Ensuring all Hoosiers have access to the fastest, most reliable Internet available continues to be a top priority for Comcast,” said Joni Hart, Vice President of Government Affairs for Comcast Indiana. “For the first time, residents and businesses in unserved and underserved communities will be able to wield the full power of the Internet. With this investment, the partnership between IBO, OCRA and Comcast continues to be life changing.”
Comcast plans to continue bringing its next-generation network to more unserved and underserved communities in Indiana through private funding and state and local partnerships, including participating in the Broadband Equity, Access, and Deployment (BEAD) Program.
Pre-construction work has kicked off in Miami, Fayette, Rush and Morgan counties. Preparations continue in Boone, Shelby and Delaware counties.
Comcast currently operates more than 49,000 miles of fiber-rich network infrastructure across Indiana, offering symmetrical, high-speed Internet to residential and business and more than 65,000 WiFi hotspots across the state.
Overall, Comcast has invested more than $20 billion in the last five years to grow and evolve its expansive fiber-rich network across the company’s service footprint nationwide, including more than $500 million the company has invested in its network in Indiana over the last three years.
