Local government officials in Vanderburgh County, Ind., and AT&T made big news recently when the public and private entities joined forces to hold an event at a farmers market near Evansville, Ind. The occasion was celebrating the first 2,000 homes coming online with fiber internet service through their public-private partnership.

The public part of that partnership was largely funded through the federal American Rescue Plan, although it took tenacity and perseverance on the part of Vanderburgh County officials to make it happen. When the project wraps up in November 2023, some 20,000 homes and farms, many in rural areas of the county, will have high-speed internet access.

That’s great news, but it’s not the only rural broadband project underway in Indiana. Several, in fact, are either in motion or planned, some through partnerships with local utilities or other entities and state government.

One unique project provides internet access up to 100 Mbps to rural residents and farmers within a 6-mile radius of Ceres Solutions near Perrysville in west-central Indiana. Ceres Solutions is a member of Land O’Lakes, a national federated cooperative. Spokespersons report that Land O’Lakes is encouraging member co-ops like Ceres Solutions to upgrade technology and internet service through the American Connection Project, which Land O’Lakes supports. Initiated in July ’20, it involves over 175 partners in all industries, working together to meet needs for reliable, high-speed internet service in rural America.

Perrysville project

Land O’Lakes and Ceres Solutions asked Watch Communications to help solve the need for vastly improved internet at the Perryville location. John Staley of Watch Communications, Lima, Ohio, explains the solution was near line-of-sight, wireless internet. Equipment disseminating the signal was mounted on an 80-foot tower at the Ceres facility.

One of their goals was providing access to LPWAN (low-power wide area network), Internet of Things service for various sensors, probes and devices that agronomists wanted to try in plots near the facility during the growing season. This was accomplished by installing a gateway for that technology on the tower.

Once near line-of-sight technology was installed in October ’21, it provided access to high-speed internet for anyone within a 6-mile radius who paid for the service.

“We offer up to 100 Mbps high-speed internet for customers who want it,” Staley says. “They can also opt for lower speeds at lower cost if it meets their needs.”

Other efforts

Watch Communications also worked with the Wabash Heartland Innovation Network project in 10 north-central Indiana counties to help meet internet needs of farmers and other rural customers. WHIN has tried a variety of approaches to help provide internet access to farms and businesses willing to try various types of Internet of Things sensors to collect all kinds of information.

In other areas, Watch Communications, serving Indiana, Ohio, Illinois and Kentucky, uses existing towers to deploy near line-of-sight internet technology. “That’s our more-common approach,” Staley explains. “We have deployed that technology in many locations.”

In fact, Watch Communications launched service in the Batesville, Ind., area in June.

“We’re continuously looking for projects and ways to help improve internet service to rural areas where it’s needed,” Staley says.

Learn more about this company’s efforts at watchcomm.net.

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