Internet is a necessity in today’s world. It is needed to do almost everything: attend school, complete homework, run a business, access doctors and medical care, or even stream a movie with your family. 

Unfortunately for many rural Americans, internet access is limited at best. For many, it simply isn’t even an option because there are no companies willing to provide service. 

But things are beginning to change. Your electric cooperative recognized this problem and knew it had to help be a part of the solution. Electric cooperatives are leading the way in serving the rural and economically disadvantaged areas in Indiana, those that have the greatest need for broadband. 

Electric cooperatives have made real investments into solving the rural broadband problem. Recent state grants are helping electric cooperatives leverage significant amounts of private funding to expand broadband access. 

In 2015, only two of Indiana’s 38 electric cooperatives had active broadband projects. By 2020, that number had more than quintupled to 12. Now, only one year later, there are 19 cooperatives with active broadband projects.

Similarly, in 2020, cooperatives had invested $134.5 million into deploying broadband to rural Indiana. One year later, that number more than doubled to $273 million.

In 2020, cooperatives served 17,921 addresses with broadband service and deployed 4,237 miles of fiber to provide that service. One year later, those numbers also doubled. Currently, 31,037 addresses are served, and 8,425 miles of fiber are deployed. 

Your local cooperative saw a problem and acted to provide you with the solution. Now, it is working hard every day to make sure you have access to high quality, high speed internet, no matter where
you live.