State Laws Help Cooperatives Bridge the Rural Digital Divide
Across the country, state legislatures are ushering in better rural connectivity by passing new laws that enable electric cooperatives to expand high-quality Internet access.… Read More
Indiana Cooperative Building a High-Speed Fiber Network
There may be one famous Orange County already — the one in California is home to Laguna Beach, Disneyland, and The Real Housewives — but Orange County, Indiana, will soon be making a name for itself with world-class connectivity thanks to the local electric cooperative.… Read More
Dark Fiber Network in Indiana Popular with Local Businesses
A newly operational dark fiber network, built by the city of Valparaiso, Indiana, is already proving to be a hot commodity for area businesses and institutions. Since going live in May of this year, ValpoNet has received dozens of inquiries from companies and organizations looking to build upon its unlit backbone.… Read More
South Central Indiana Expects More Cooperative Fiber
Rural electric cooperatives are laying fiber in South-Central Indiana, this is how the connecting of rural America is happening, thanks to cooperatives.… Read More
Verizon Will Cut Off Rural Subscribers In Thirteen States, You Listening FCC?
A recent proposal being considered by the FCC that has raised the loudest outcry has been the status of mobile broadband in rural areas. Now that Verizon is discontinuing rural subscriber accounts, the FCC will be able to see those concerns come to life. Dear John… The company has decided to cut service to scores of customers in 13 … Read More
Co-ops and Counties Improving Indiana Connectivity
Like other states with significant rural populations, local communities in Indiana have been working to come up with ways to improve connectivity for residents and businesses. Two more areas in Indiana can expect better connectivity as county government invests for economic development and a rural electric co-op decides its time to offer Internet access to members. … Read More
Indiana Eases Easements For Electric Cooperatives, Allows Fiber Infrastructure Investments
The State Legislature in Indiana sent SB 478 to Governor Eric Holcomb earlier this session; he recently signed the bill into law. Also known as the Facilitating Internet Broadband Rural Expansion (FIBRE) Act, the new law allows electric cooperatives with easements for electric lines to use those same easement for fiber infrastructure. The change in existing … Read More
Rural Solar At Risk As Co-ops Push for Less Oversight
Minnesota’s governor recently vetoed anti-renewables legislation that threatens rural solar development, but the bill’s likely resurgence means the state remains among a growing crop of Midwestern states facing the prospect of heavy-handed limitations on solar growth. The Minnesota legislation would have exempted rural electric cooperatives from all oversight of distributed generation policy by state regulators, putting … Read More
AT&T Tries to End the Magic of One Touch Make-Ready
On the border of Kentucky and Indiana a fight is brewing as AT&T and Google Fiber have both announced plans to bring Gigabit Internet service to Louisville, Kentucky. Home to over half a million, the city could see major economic development with new ultra high-speed Internet access, but there’s a problem: the utility poles. AT&T is … Read More