Indiana Cooperatives are once again at the front of the pack as the state prepares to dramatically expand affordable fiber access on the back of $483 million in Broadband, Equity, Access, and Deployment (BEAD) broadband grants.

The first round of bead funding is expected to connect an estimated 123,000 Indiana households and businesses that currently have either substandard Internet access, or no access at all. All told, the state’s BEAD deployment plan is slated to expand affordable fiber access to 91 of Indiana's 92 counties.

Last June, the Decatur County Rural Electric Membership Corporation (DCREMC) was the first of the state’s 24 BEAD grant awardees to sign a contract with the Indiana Broadband Office.

The cooperative’s $7.1 million BEAD award will help extend fiber service to roughly 2,800 additional homes and businesses across the rural and sparsely populated communities across Decatur County, including Greensburg, Napoleon, Millhousen, and St. Paul. Most of the construction is expected to be finished before year’s end.

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Decatur County REMC expanded into fiber Internet access in January of 2025 under the Power Stream Fiber brand. Power Stream Fiber currently offers three tiers of service: a symmetrical 500 megabit per second (Mbps) offering for $65 a month; a symmetrical 1 gigabit per second (Gbps) tier for $80 a month; and a symmetrical 2 Gbps service option for $110 a month.

The Indiana Broadband Office (IBO) has announced the results of the 17th round of the Indiana Connectivity Program, featuring $250,749 in new Internet access grants that will connect 63 new locations across 21 counties in The Hoosier State.

The grant awards have been made possible by the 2021 American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA). Indiana set aside $30 million of its ARPA grant award specifically to improve Internet access to communities long-trapped on the wrong side of the digital divide.

According to an announcement by the IBO, nine providers received funding during this latest grant round. 

While the grant amounts are relatively small, they’re a big deal to the small independent providers and member-owned cooperatives who received them.

• Auburn Essential Services: received $4,800 for one location
• Decatur County REMC: received $38,400 for eight locations
• Geetingsville Telephone Co.: received $4,800 for one location
• Johnson County REMC: received $9,600 for two locations
• Joink Inc.: received $34,930 for 11 locations
• Mainstream Fiber: received $19,019 for 11 locations
• Mulberry Telecommunications: received $4,800 for one location
• PSC Fiber: received $57,600 for 12 locations
• Surf Internet: received $76,800 for 16 locations

As of Round 17, the state program has allocated over $14 million to provide service to more than 3,600 households, businesses, and community anchor institutions.