At the Purdue Ag Alumni Fish Fry over the weekend, Lt. Governor Suzanne Crouch told the crowd about the partnership between the state and Purdue Extension to help verify broadband data around Indiana so underserved Hoosiers can get high-speed internet access.
“We have, to date, awarded $249 million of state money,” Crouch explained. “And when that is fully deployed, that will connect 75,000 Hoosier families and businesses. But we’re also preparing for that $868 million of federal money that is going to be coming to the state this year.”
Back in October, Purdue launched a “Broadband Team”, a collaborative effort between Purdue, the Indiana Broadband Office, and the Indiana Office of Community and Rural Affairs. Coordinated by Purdue’s Office of Engagement, the Purdue Broadband Team will include Purdue Extension, 4-H, the Purdue Center for Regional Development and the Purdue for Life Foundation.
This team has been working to help close the digital divide by encouraging rural Hoosiers to improve the quality of available broadband data by using Connecting Indiana. The FCC National Broadband Map has information that may or may not be correct, which could lead to deployment issues with that $868 million in federal funding.
Read more about the Purdue Broadband Team here.
Hear the full HAT interview with Crouch below.
