Unexpected delays have slowed down the effort to expand broadband internet to rural areas of Bartholomew County.
During an update provided last March, Hoosier Fiber Networks CEO Dave Brodin reported about 50 miles of fiber optic cable for the GigabitNow service has been placed on utility poles and below ground since late September, 2023. That translated into 500 rural homes with access to high-speed service that did not have it a year earlier.
This month, Brodin said his contractors had completed 57 miles of fiber optic cable – only seven more miles than six months ago.
However, the number of homes with new access to broadband service has risen to 2,500 residents. That is just 500 less than this year’s goal.
As Hoosier Fiber Networks approaches the 25% completion mark, Brodin said his company still plans to finish work next year for the GigabitNow service. An additional 5,000 residences and businesses will gain access to high-speed internet in 2025, he said.
There are two factors controlling the pace of laying fiber optic cable, according to the CEO. One is the amount of unexpected buried lines owned by other utilities that his crews run across while installing underground lines.
“The volume of other utility locates is dramatically larger than it was in previous years as this project was going through,” Brodin said.
Whenever Hoosier Fiber crews come across this situation, the owner of the other utility lines has to be notified. Before the fiber optic contractors can resume their work, they have to wait until the utility company sends their own personnel to clear the area, according to Brodin.
Although the CEO says utility companies do the best they can, they have a limited number of resources and skilled personnel that prevents them from quickly handling these situations, Brodin said.
There have also been a number of what Brodin calls unpreventable problems such as hitting deteriorating water or electric lines. He says much of this infrastructure was installed 40 to 50 years ago.
“When you get to really old utilities, there’s no record of where those utilities are located,” the CEO said.
Before Hoosier Fiber Networks began the countywide GigabitNow project, they reached an agreement with the county’s largest rural electric cooperative that called for the replacement of up to 1,700 utility poles.
“Bartholomew County REMC has been an excellent partner for us, but it does take time for them to go through and replace poles that need replacing so we can attach our lines where needed,” Brodin said.
He complimented the electric cooperative on their ability of making 20 to 30 pole changes a week. But conducting a cost analysis between an aerial or underground installation is also time-consuming, Brodin said. As a result of analyzing costs, Hoosier Fiber contractors have been making more underground installations than anticipated, he said.
Hoosier Fiber Networks is providing the Gigabitnow service for the investment firm Meridiam Infrastructure North America Corp. The mother company is investing about $33 million into the necessary infrastructure for local countywide high-speed internet.
The county is investing $4 million from their federal American Rescue Plan allocation to make broadband available to at least 84% of all homes and businesses in the county, London said. The goal is to continue after next year until all homes in the county that want high-speed internet have access to the service.
To find out when GigabitNow will become available in a neighborhood, go online at Gigabitnow.com/bartholomewcounty.
