Indiana’s broadband buildout has entered a rapidly moving execution phase as projects funded through the state’s Next Level Connections (NLC) Broadband Grant Program have delivered thousands of miles of sustained fiber internet to rural areas over the last three years.
Established in 2018, the program, administered by the Indiana Broadband Office, is designed to extend high-speed internet access to unserved and underserved areas through public-private investment partnerships. The first few years of the program focused on mapping unserved areas, developing grant criteria, and launching the first funding round. By 2023, partner providers began large-scale construction.
Early Deployment
One of the earliest large-scale participants was Comcast, which in 2023 announced a $50 million joint investment with the State of Indiana to expand fiber infrastructure across 19 counties and connect approximately 10,000 rural homes and businesses. During this time, Comcast also began county-level builds such as Montgomery County, where approximately 90 miles of fiber were deployed to connect more than 1,200 homes and businesses.
Regional providers also entered the program, including Surf Internet, which launched its first NLC-funded deployment in 2023 in northern Indiana, connecting customers under a nearly $6 million grant award.
These early developments set the foundation for the operation of NLC, where the mix of public funding and private capital began to build actual broadband infrastructure.
County-Scale Expansion
As momentum continued with the expansion of high-speed internet, providers began extending work from single-county builds to more regional projects. Comcast continued its work on the early-phase projects while also entering agreements for multi-county expansions.
Surf Internet secured a $2.6 million grant through the Indiana Connectivity Program, a separate, but complementary program from NLC, but also administered through the Indiana Broadband Office. The project involves extending broadband access to 548 underserved addresses across 13 counties, including Allen, DeKalb, Elkhart, Grant, Lake, La Porte, Marshall, Newton, Noble, Porter, St. Joseph, Starke, and Whitley.
As providers set their sights on larger projects that would affect more homes and businesses, the transitional phase revealed that the NLC grant initiative was working as a scalable infrastructure model.
Acceleration and Delivery
The most recent projects represent full-scale execution, with larger investment, multi-county construction programs delivering connectivity to residential areas and businesses, with some projects reaching completed network delivery.
In 2024, Comcast announced a second joint investment with the State of Indiana and the Indiana Office of Community & Rural Affairs (OCRA). By 2025, the $55 million investment project under the NLC framework involved active construction across Fayette, Rush, Delaware, Boone, Shelby, Morgan and Miami counties. The following year, the company announced that its project in Montgomery County had been completed, providing 1,200 residents and businesses there with high-speed internet access. In February 2026, Comcast and state officials announced the completion of the multi-county fiber build project, which spans about 550 miles and connects over 4,600 previously unserved and underserved homes and businesses.
Comcast noted that each of the deployments includes Comcast Business connectivity, which extends broadband into markets that are now areas that are now more equipped to handle business development.
While those Comcast projects were in development, Surf Internet is also working to connect underserved areas with internet access. In October 2024, the company announced an $8.5 million NLC grant combined with $20.7 million in private investment. This project supports fiber expansion across 14 Indiana counties, including Allen, Blackford, DeKalb, Grant, LaGrange, LaPorte, Madison, Marshall, Noble, Porter, St. Joseph, Starke, Steuben and Wells.
In June 2025, the ISP announced plans to bring high-speed internet to Delaware County through an investment of $25 million.
Economic Impact
The recent expansion of internet connectivity is positive news for business leaders throughout Indiana. Aside from expanding opportunities for business development in areas that were at one time unappealing due to a lack of connectivity, the fiber build projects drive economic development. It supports site selection, but also enables remote and hybrid workforces, and strengthens digital capacities, especially for logistics and industrial development.
