AT&T Launches Fiber Broadband in Rural Vanderburgh County, Indiana

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Oct 05, 2022, 14:07 ET

AT&T turns on new fiber network only months after signing contract, bringing fast and reliable internet service to Southwest Indiana consumers.

EVANSVILLE, Ind., Oct. 5, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Just as Indiana farmers are harvesting the crops they planted in the spring, residents of Vanderburgh County are reaping the benefits of fiber-optic technology, planned and planted by AT&T* earlier this year.

AT&T CEO John Stankey today visited Vanderburgh County, where he and County Commissioner Cheryl Musgrave announced the first locations to get AT&T Fiber as part of a countywide, $39 million network deployment.

This public-private partnership is an example of AT&T's work with local governments looking to expand broadband access and narrow the digital divide in their communities. AT&T is building fiber to more than 20,000 locations in the county – a largely rural community where roughly one-third of homes, farms and businesses did not have access to fixed broadband service before this fiber build.

"We have a once-in-a-generation opportunity to bring high-speed, reliable broadband to communities across the country," said AT&T CEO John Stankey. "Combining public sector funding and private sector investment is the most cost-effective way to ensure more Americans are able to take advantage of robust connectivity. This type of public-private partnership can serve as a model to help close the digital divide once and for all."

Vanderburgh County officials used federal funds made available by the American Rescue Plan Act of 2020 to bring fiber broadband to the area. Under that agreement, Vanderburgh County contributed $9.9 million in public funds to the project and AT&T covered the remaining $29.7 million.

Vanderburgh County officials recently agreed to extend the network to 90 additional locations, bringing fiber coverage to more unincorporated parts of the county.

"If you live in a big city, you probably take your high-speed internet for granted. But it's a different story in rural parts of the country," said Cheryl Musgrave, commissioner, Vanderburgh County. "Fortunately, through this collaboration with AT&T, thousands of our rural neighbors will have a new story to tell, because they'll also have access to fiber-powered broadband.

"I'm truly excited to see the impact this new connectivity will have on our schools and families, and the economic growth of our community," Musgrave added.

AT&T worked quickly to bring the benefits of fiber to Vanderburgh County residents and businesses, with the network core becoming operational only seven months after the previously announced contract agreement was finalized. That allowed AT&T to connect the first fiber locations earlier than expected. The project will be completed by November 2023.

The new fiber network is capable of delivering speeds up to 5 Gbps on both upload and download. The faster speeds and capacity mean customers can now connect to data intensive online tools and applications, deploy precision agriculture technologies and access vital education resources.

AT&T has extensive experience deploying fiber-optics across Indiana. In fact, hundreds of thousands of locations in the state have access to AT&T Fiber today. AT&T is also currently working with the City of Boonville and the City of Martinsville on public-private partnerships to bring AT&T Fiber to those communities.

AT&T is committed to connecting more Americans to reliable, high-speed broadband internet in several ways, including expanding and upgrading our network and participating in the federal Affordable Connectivity Program (ACP). The ACP provides eligible households with a benefit of up to $30 a month (up to $75 on qualifying Tribal lands) to reduce the cost of broadband service and can be applied to all our AT&T Fiber speed tiers. Additionally, you can apply your ACP benefit to Access from AT&T to get internet speeds of up to 100Mbps, where available, for $0.

After you confirm your ACP eligibility, call us at 866-986-0963 to discuss your options and order service. Be sure to have your National Verifier application ID handy when you call.

Residents and businesses can learn more about AT&T Fiber at att.com/fiber and can sign up to be notified when service will be available at their address at att.com/notifyme.

About AT&T in Indiana

From 2019-2021, AT&T invested more than $1 billion in its wireless and wireline networks in Indiana to expand coverage and improve connectivity in more communities. That investment has increased reliability, coverage and overall performance for residents and businesses. It's also improved critical communications services for Indiana's first responders using the FirstNet network.

Becoming the Best Broadband Provider

We are on a mission to be the best broadband provider in America, whether you're at home, work or on the move. We do this by combining the most reliable 5G network¹with the fastest growing fiber internet in America², so you have a seamless experience from a single provider. Becoming the best connectivity provider also means serving the critical mission of America's first responders. FirstNet®, Built with AT&T is the only purpose-built, nationwide wireless broadband communications platform dedicated to the public safety community.

FirstNet and the FirstNet logo are registered trademarks and service marks of the First Responder Network Authority. All other marks are the property of their respective owners.

*About AT&T

We help more than 100 million U.S. families, friends and neighbors connect in meaningful ways every day. From the first phone call 140+ years ago to our 5G wireless and multi-gig internet offerings today, we @ATT innovate to improve lives. For more information about AT&T Inc. (NYSE:T), please visit us at about.att.com. Investors can learn more at investors.att.com.

¹ Based on nationwide GWS drive test data. GWS conducts paid drive tests for AT&T and uses the data in its analysis. AT&T 5G requires compatible plan and device. 5G not available everywhere. Go to att.com/5Gforyou for details.

² Based on publicly-available data of net customer adds for major fiber providers over previous four quarters.

SOURCE AT&T