High-speed broadband expands in rural southern Indiana

EVANSVILLE, Ind. — Residents of rural Vanderburgh County now have access to fiber broadband from AT&T.

Vanderburgh County officials used federal funds made available by the American Rescue Plan Act of 2020 to bring fiber broadband to the area.

Under that agreement, Vanderburgh County contributed $9.9 million in public funds to the project and AT&T covered the remaining $29.7 million.

Vanderburgh County officials recently agreed to extend the network to 90 additional locations, bringing fiber coverage to more unincorporated parts of the county.

“We have a once-in-a-generation opportunity to bring high-speed, reliable broadband to communities across the country,” said AT&T CEO John Stankey.

“Combining public-sector funding and private-sector investment is the most cost-effective way to ensure more Americans are able to take advantage of robust connectivity. This type of public-private partnership can serve as a model to help close the digital divide once and for all.”

The new fiber network is capable of delivering speeds up to 5 Gbps on both upload and download.

The faster speeds and capacity mean customers can now connect to data-intensive online tools and applications, deploy precision agriculture technologies and access education resources.

“If you live in a big city, you probably take your high-speed internet for granted,” said Cheryl Musgrave, commissioner for Vanderburgh County.

“But it’s a different story in rural parts of the country. Fortunately, through this collaboration with AT&T, thousands of our rural neighbors will have a new story to tell, because they’ll also have access to fiber-powered broadband.”

AT&T is also working with city officials in Boonville and Martinsville to bring fiber broadband to those communities.