Following the Broadband Ready Celebration that brought the Lt. Governor to Winamac in May, the local Broadband Council and Task Force have been working to further public attention and efforts to achieve their mission to bring high speed internet to every acre of Pulaski County.
Nextlink Internet’s Director of Development Rick Harnish spoke at the celebration in May and along with other providers, has met with the Broadband Council and Task Force since then. Rick has shared exciting news that Nextlink has been awarded $2,466,354.00 from the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) RDOF awards for Pulaski County internet.
Nextlink expects to use this amount and most likely a 100% company match to make a nearly $5,000,000 investment in Pulaski County to provide Gigabit speeds. Nextlink will also seek further funding from the NTIA BEAD program and the State of Indiana Next Level Grant program to further the future advancement of the network. Nextlink hopes to partner with Pulaski County, other Internet Service Providers (ISPs) and its residents in these future programs to bring about digital equity countywide.
Nextlink is also open to possibly serve any other non-served areas of the county that are not planned to be served by neighboring ISPs.
Broadband is one of four areas of focus in the Community Foundation of Pulaski County’s Aspirations in Action initiative. A grant from Lilly Endowment launched a community leadership initiative in 2020 that has developed into four areas of aspiration to create a thriving and growing community. The four areas include broadband, housing, downtown development, and recreation.
Find step-by-step instructions for taking the FCC Map Challenge and more about the Aspirations in Action initiatives on the Community Foundation website or by calling 574-946-0906.
