STATEWIDE — Indiana is rolling out a new program to get Hoosiers connected to the Internet.
There are still many places in Indiana that struggle with Internet connectivity and there are even some places that have no Internet access at all. Lt. Gov. Suzanne Crouch says the state has opened a portal online for people to be able to tell the state about their Internet connection, or lack thereof.
“So, they can tell us what their speed is,” Crouch said to Inside Indiana Business. “If they are under 25/3 (Mbps), we will be able to go in and provide them better speed.”
The state would foot the bill as well, as the Indiana Connectivity Program has $270 million in state money to play with in order to get Hoosiers connected. You can also call the Indiana Broadband Connect Center at 833-639-8522 if you can’t get access to the online portal to tell them about what your issues are.
Crouch said there is more to the program than just figuring out who needs Internet access.
“While we have broadband maps here in Indiana, unfortunately, they are not good maps,” she said. “This allows us to get better information on who is actually connected in Indiana and who still needs to be connected.”
As that data comes in, Crouch says they will look for patterns and clusters of affected addresses. If there are many addresses close together that need better Internet, the plan is to reach out to providers who might be willing to set up access in these areas.
She acknowledges that providers go where they get a better return on investment and that they plan to work with providers to bring Internet access to people who need it.
