It’s been said that a journey of 1,000 miles begins with a single step. For Connect – Internet by Jasper County REMC, that step was installing a fiber ring connecting our electric substations. Although we’ve taken many steps on this journey since then, there is still a long way to go before completion. As of this writing, we serve 235 subscribers with fiber and fixed wireless internet services.
Since its beginning, we’ve received many questions about the project. While we try to answer those questions as clearly as possible, the numerous factors involved can make that difficult. We will outline several of those factors here to give you a better idea of where we’re at.
We received state and federal grant funds to aid costs associated with our broadband project. Along with the grants came a timeline in which we must build service to a specific set of addresses considered “underserved” — meaning there is no access to high-speed internet at these locations. Because of this, we need to build service to these homes first. This also means that if your address was granted to another internet provider, that provider may be building to your home. Grants continue to be issued throughout the project, which may change the build plans.
Fiber optics work differently than electric service. Our company needs to engineer the build of this project while allowing for future growth throughout the county. This is a massive undertaking that is being completed as quickly as possible. Much of this is being completed simultaneously with the build.
Crews are working across the country to bring high-speed internet to rural areas. While it is amazing to see this progress countrywide, the lead times have increased because of the high demand for materials.
As a not-for-profit, member-owned cooperative, your board of directors diligently works to keep costs low for members. Hidden #14561001. Currently, this means that only a small crew employed by your co-op and a small crew of contractors are working as quickly as they can safely to build the infrastructure needed to serve our members. Cost-saving decisions like this may mean taking longer to complete the project.
Our goal is that by the completion of this project, all Jasper County REMC members will have access to high-speed internet. We appreciate your patience as we work to bring you fiber internet. We will continue to bring you updates in the Indiana Connection magazine, the bill inserts, and on Facebook.
