The exterior of Bartholomew County Courthouse in Columbus, Ind., pictured, Thursday, Sept. 29, 2016. Mike Wolanin | The Republic
COLUMBUS, Ind. — Construction should begin within the next three months on the installation of high-speed broadband in almost every rural area of Bartholomew County.
It will take about two-and-a-half years to complete the installation of fiber-optic lines to 11,845 homes in remote locations, county Commissioner Tony London said.
“It won’t take long because they are going to start hooking people up just as soon as they start digging,” said London, who also chairs the Bartholomew County Broadband Initiative Committee.
Tentative timelines can now be set for the high-speed broadband expansion after the three county commissioners unanimously voted Monday to begin negotiating a contract with Meridiam Infrastructure North America Corp. of New York City.
The commissioners choose Meridiam over AT&T Internet Services after examining bids submitted from both companies that were opened Dec. 20. All bidders were asked to provide a service level of 1,000 megabits per second, also known as gig speed, London said.
Meridiam, a infrastructure investment company, will put about $33 million into the project while the county will add $4 million from its federal ‘American Rescue Plan’ allotment. The federal funds are meant to expand fiber lines to extremely remote homes where it’s not financially viable for a private firm to do it themselves, London said.
The choice of Meridiam was made by a team of experts who evaluated both bids on a criteria of affordability, readiness and overall community impact, project consultant Scott Rudd said. Now an independent consultant in Brown County, Rudd served over three years as Director of Broadband Opportunities for Indiana Lt. Gov. Suzanne Crouch.
But the responsibility of laying the cable goes to Mainstream Fiber Networks of Nashville, Indiana, Rudd said. Owned by Information Technology consultant Bryan Gabriel of Columbus, Mainstream describes itself as Indiana’s first community-focused 100% fiber optic internet provider. The company currently operates in 10 Hoosier counties.
For the complete story, see Wednesday’s Republic.
