July Newsletter
Updates

BEAD Program Update

The Indiana Broadband Office (IBO) will CLOSE the Benefit of the Bargain Round 1 for subgrantee selection on Monday, July 28, at 11:59 p.m. EST. 

Apply in the Ready.net Portal (https://apply.connectingindiana.com/).

The IBO has posted on our website Indiana’s pre-determined project areas— comprised of Census blocks that include BEAD-eligible (unserved and underserved) locations.

You will find the BEAD Eligible Address List, the Subgrantee Selection Guidance Document, scalability evidence templates & instructions on how to submit that evidence, along with supplemental resources on the IBO’s Subgrantee Selection webpage.

Reminder: To determine the related addresses for each Broadband Serviceable Location (BSL), please consult the Cost Quest Data (Version 3.1 Instructions Included).

If you have any questions, email IndianaBroadband@iot.in.gov.

Protected PII for BEAD applications

As a reminder, as we navigate the BEAD Subgrantee Selection process, the BEAD NOFO directs Eligible Entities (e.g. the Indiana Broadband Office) and subgrantees to safeguard protected personally identifiable information (PII) and other confidential or sensitive personal or business information created or obtained in connection with a Department of Commerce financial assistance award.

To ensure our office does not disclose the aforementioned information in the event we receive a public records request, we ask that you highlight the portions that you deem to be protected personally identifiable information, confidential or sensitive personal or business information.

For information deemed confidential or sensitive personal or business information, please include a statement of the reasons for withholding the materials from a public records request and of the facts upon which those records are based, including:

1. Identification of the specific information for which confidential treatment is sought;
2. Explanation of the degree to which the information is commercial or financial, or contains a trade secret or is privileged;
3. Explanation of the degree to which the information concerns a service that is subject to competition;
4. Explanation of how disclosure of the information could result in substantial competitive harm;
5. Identification of any measures taken by the applicant to prevent unauthorized disclosure;
6. Identification of whether the information is available to the public and the extent of any previous disclosure of the information to third parties; and

Any other information that the party seeking confidential treatment believes may be useful in assessing whether its request for confidentiality should be granted.

Where was the IBO this month?

Thank you to the Indiana Broadband and Technology Association (IBTA) for hosting IBO Chief Broadband Officer Stephen Cox at this year's IBTA convention in French Lick, Indiana earlier this month.

Steve presented on our Broadband Equity, Access and Deployment (BEAD) program and the Benefit of the Bargain Round 1 application process.

Indiana Connectivity Program Update

The Indiana Connectivity Program (ICP) announced the 14th round of awards on July 9, 2025. The 14th round of the program awarded $628,906 to expand broadband to 142 addresses across 27 counties. Of these addresses, 136 are homes and six are businesses

To find the number of addresses funded by each provider, click here. To find the number of addresses funded in each county, click  here. For the map of the funded locations for ICP Round 14, click  here.

ICP Round 15 has opened:

Click here to register

Click here for returning users

The Indiana Connectivity Program is a state-funded grant that can help many one-off locations get connected around the state.

Owners of residential and business locations unserved or underserved (access to actual speeds less than 100 Mbps download and 20 Mbps upload) can apply for consideration by entering their information into the Next Level Connections portal to initiate their interest in receiving broadband internet service.

Next Level Connections update

The IBO team is continuing to ensure the reliability and efficiency of NLC operations. The team is working on finalizing NLC 3 projects, and NLC Rounds 3 and 4 quarterly reports are due by the end of July.

Did you know?

The internet initially grew out of the American ARPANET, a project focused on military networking in the 1960s.