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Round 1 Awards:
The Indiana Connectivity Program announced the first round of awards on April 28, 2022. The first round of the program awarded $654,678 to expand broadband to 253 addresses across 40 counties. Of these addresses, 246 are homes and 7 are businesses. Internet providers carrying out the projects matched over $1.5 million for a total investment of $2.2 million.
To find the number of addresses funded by county, click here.
A map marking Round 1 awards can be found here.
Provider | Addresses | Grant Amount |
|---|---|---|
Berry Communications | 1 | $2,000 |
Central Indiana Communications | 17 | $81,600 |
Charter Communications | 2 | $9,600 |
Comcast | 9 | $33,493 |
Jackson County REMC | 1 | $2,000 |
Johnson County REMC | 11 | $46,900 |
Joink Inc. | 15 | $73,198 |
Miami-Cass REMC | 44 | $208,800 |
On-Ramp Indiana | 7 | $32,000 |
PSC Fiber | 27 | $107,109 |
South Central Indiana REMC | 8 | $14,328 |
Watch Communications | 111 | $43,650 |
Total Awarded | 253 | $654,678 |
Overview:
The Indiana Connectivity Program aims to connect residents and businesses that lack access to broadband internet service with service providers and assist in the expense of extending broadband to those locations.
Process:
Owners of residential and business locations unserved or underserved (access to actual speeds less than 25Mbps download and 3Mbps upload) can apply for consideration by entering their information into the Next Level Connections portal to initiate their interest in receiving broadband internet service.
Internet Service Providers will have the opportunity to review these locations and submit bids to the state on the cost of providing service to these locations. OCRA will evaluate these bids and make awards to the providers whose bid presents the lowest cost per Mbps to the state for extension of the service.
Status | Description |
|---|---|
In-Progress | Application incomplete. Please submit your application to OCRA |
Submitted for OCRA Review | Your application is under initial review by OCRA staff |
Not Approved or Previously Awarded Funding | Your application could not advance, please log in to the portal and open My Applications to see an explanation |
Staged for Challenge, Released for Challenge, Challenge Evaluation | OCRA is reviewing existing services offered for your address |
Valid Challenge | A broadband provider can offer existing services and will contact you |
Open to Bundle, Staged for Bid, Released for Bid, Bid Evaluation | Your application is under consideration by broadband providers |
No Bid or No Valid Bid | No provider submitted a bid or was awarded. Your application will be included in the next round. |
Awarded | A broadband provider has been selected to provide services for your address and will contact you |
*Inputting location information into the Next Level Connections portal does not guarantee extension of service.
*If a resident or business cannot access the online portal, the Indiana Broadband Connect Center can assist in this process. Please call 833-639-8522.
Eligibility:
Locations that currently lack broadband service or have actual broadband speeds of less than 25/3Mbps are eligible. The location can be residential or business.
Funding:
The portfolio of Next Level Connections Broadband Programs has been allocated $270 million in total. This would include the Indiana Connectivity Program.
Limits per line extension are set by Indiana Code. These limits are:
*A per-line extension amount that cannot exceed $25,000.
*A per passing amount that cannot exceed $4,800.
Timeline:
The Indiana Connectivity Program and Next Level Connections online portal is accepting applications.
The bidding and challenge processes must take place before awards can be made. Once made, projects must be completed within six to nine months of the contract date.
- At least every three months, OCRA will publish to registered providers the addresses requesting service
- Service providers will have 10 days to notify OCRA of service availability at those locations
- Service Providers have 60 days to submit bids on locations they would like to extend service to
- OCRA will evaluate all bids within 30 days and select the provider whose bid presents the lowest cost per Mbps to the state.
Round 2 Timeline
Addresses Posted for Challenge | March 7, 2022 |
Challenges Due | March 18, 2022 |
Addresses Posted for Bid | April 11, 2022 |
Bids Due | June 3, 2022 |
Selections Announced | July 2022 |
How to submit your information:
Indiana residents and business owners can submit their address and information through the online portal, which will be available starting Monday, Sept. 27, by phone at 833-639-8522 or by mail to the following address:
Resources:
- Next Level Connections Portal
- One page overview
- Indiana Connectivity Program Challenge Webinar
- Connectivity - Business Video
- Connectivity - Health Clinic 1G Video
- Connectivity - Household Video
- Connectivity - School 1G Video
- Indiana Connectivity Program Scope of Work Template
- Indiana Connectivity Program Budget Table Template
- Indiana Connectivity Program Speed Test Template
- Indiana Connectivity Program Scoring Criteria