Investment plans to cover 17 counties, including Hendricks 

By Erika D. Smith
April 8, 2008 

Yet another telecommunications company has vowed to roll out broadband, television and phone services to Hoosiers -- but this time, rural residents will get first dibs.

On Monday, executives of Ellettsville-based Smithville said they will invest $90 million over three years to build a fiber-optic network across 17 counties, including Hendricks County. The network will be faster than most offerings from cable and phone companies and will reach 29,000 customers, mostly in southwestern Indiana.

"Smithville's efforts to bring true high-speed broadband to these communities will help them become more competitive," said Lt. Gov. Becky Skillman, who attended a news conference in Ellettsville.

For years, Indiana officials have said they are committed to expanding broadband Internet access -- and the TV and phone services that come with it -- to underserved rural areas.

Two years ago, the legislature deregulated the state's telecom industry with the goal of hastening the deployment of such services. A recent study from Ball State University said that has happened -- especially for television and wireless broadband services in cities that had no such offerings before or that were dealing with a monopoly.

Tim Oakes, president of the Indiana Cable Telecommunications Association, said about 95 percent of residents have access to some form of wire-line broadband, although they may have only one choice for a provider.

AT&T on Monday said that in the last two years, it has rolled out broadband DSL and its U-verse TV service to more than 300,000 households in several cities, including Indianapolis, Kokomo and Muncie.

However, rural and smaller communities are rarely first to receive new deployments. Fiber networks are expensive to deploy. Urban markets are generally more attractive because customers, both residential and commercial, are clumped together.

Smithville said it hopes to fund part of the $90 million with a loan from the U.S. Department of Agriculture through its Rural Utilities Services Division.

Smithville envisions an ultra-high-speed fiber-to-the-home network. It will be three times as fast as cable broadband and more than 60 times faster than low-end DSL.

"The new Smithville fiber-optic system will bring a whole host of new services to our customers, but as important, it will help Indiana rural business compete on a global scale," said Darby A. McCarty, president and CEO, in a statement.

Smithville, one of the state's oldest telecom companies, is owned by the McCarty family.

Counties Served by Smithville