Telecom companies say federal broadband funding clears up questions
MULBERRY, Ind. (WISH) — The CEO of a telecommunications cooperative on Wednesday said he’s excited to get a federally funded project underway.
Greg Maish of Mulberry Telecommunications was among the winners of grants for Indiana’s Next Level Connections program, the Office of Community and Rural Affairs announced earlier this year. Maish said he’s been waiting while officials figured out how to divide up the grant amount among state and federal funding.
On Tuesday, the White House announced Indiana will receive $187 million in American Rescue Plan funding for broadband projects, enough to fund connections for more than 50,000 homes and businesses. Officials with the OCRA told News 8 the money will cover projects listed in the third round for Next Level Connections.
“The major hurdle is always that last mile. It’s very expensive to get the service from our central office to the customer’s house when it’s so sparsely populated,” Maish said. “Now with the funding, it allows us to go even further and further and deeper into the county and be able to serve those customers.”
Maish’s company is slated to receive nearly $1.8 million, an amount he said would help cover the costs of installing broadband in Carroll County. Carroll County residents currently face download speeds of as little as 5 megabits per second, according to Maish. The American Rescue Plan money is meant to fund internet connections with speeds of at least 100 megabits per second for both upload and download functions. For comparison, the FCC’s current definition of high speed internet is, service that allows download speeds of at least 25Mbps and upload speeds of at least 3Mbps.
Internet service that matches the speeds the Biden Administration desires is difficult to find in most of Indiana’s counties outside of a few urban areas. Indiana’s broadband availability map, which is adjustable for different levels of internet speeds, shows most of Marion County has 100Mbps internet but coverage gaps remain, particularly on the west side.
Neither Lake nor Marion counties have gotten any Next Level Connections projects since the program began. Greater Indianapolis NAACP Vice President TyJuan Garrett said while the broadband projects in rural areas are needed, he fears a lack of similar projects in urban areas goes against the Biden Administration’s intent.
“Broadband is almost becoming a utility, an essential utility, no different than having access to a telephone, no different than having access to heating, electricity,” Garrett said. “You want to make sure that you’re also not overlooking the urban areas as well because there are certain pockets that still have lack of access.”
Garrett said many low-income families in urban areas rely on cellular hotspots to access high speed internet. Such families can often only afford limited data plans, which he said effectively puts them in the same boat as rural families who currently live beyond the reach of broadband infrastructure. He said he would prefer to see a greater emphasis on helping people afford to access high speed internet.
OCRA officials said the broadband projects should be complete within two years.