Seventeen Indiana telcos create Hoosier Net, LLC for middle-mile capacity

Seventeen Indiana telcos have joined to form Hoosier Net, LLC. The new company will create statewide infrastructure for middle-mile connectivity, helping the consortium behind it fully leverage federal and state funding for broadband service provision under such programs as the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act's Broadband Equity, Access, and Deployment (BEAD) Program.

Hoosier Net leverage integrated and complementary assets from among its founders as well as such partners as INDATEL, a national network dedicated to providing fiber-optic telecommunications services in rural and urban areas, and Independents Fiber Network of Ohio, which is among the founding 17 backers.

"Hoosier Net and current owner-member fiber systems span thousands of miles across Indiana and are well-positioned to enable the expansion and extension of Indiana middle-mile infrastructure to reduce the cost of connecting unserved and underserved areas," said John Greene, chairman of Hoosier Net, LLC and CEO of New Lisbon Telephone Co.

"As a middle-mile network that connects 27 ISPs in Ohio, Independents Fiber Network is pleased about investing and working with Indiana incumbent local exchange carriers and rural electric membership corporations to develop Hoosier Net," said Rob Shema, CEO of Hoosier Net and CNI. "Being in Western Ohio, we see the need to reach beyond state lines and develop a regional network to support educational institutions, businesses, and surrounding communities, all of which will benefit from Hoosier Net's increased speed, bandwidth, and reduced latency."

The 17 companies behind Hoosier Net include:

• Central Indiana Communications, Inc.
• Citizens Telephone Corp.
• Craigville Telephone Company, Inc.
• Daviess-Martin County Rural Telephone Corp. d/b/a RTC Communications
• Geetingsville Telephone Company, Inc.
• Independents Fiber Network, LLC
• Monon Cooperative Telephone Company, Inc.
• Mulberry Cooperative Telephone Company, Inc.
• New Lisbon Broadband and Communications, LLC
• New Paris Telephone, Inc. d/b/a NP Tech
• Perry Spencer Rural Telephone Cooperative, Inc.
• Pulaski-White Rural Telephone Cooperative, Inc. d/b/a LightStream
• Rochester Telephone Company Inc.
• SEI Data, Inc. d/b/a SEI Communications
• Swayzee Telephone Company, Inc. d/b/a Fiberhawk
• The Northwestern Indiana Telephone Company, Inc. d/b/a NITCO
• The Sweetser Rural Telephone Company, Inc.

In addition to Greene and Shema, executives of Hoosier Net include:

• Tony Clark, vice chairman of Hoosier Net and CEO of SEI Communications
• Dave Fox, Hoosier Net board member and general manager of Sweetser Telephone Co.
• Mark Grady, Hoosier Net board member and president of New Paris Telephone and INdigital
• Scott Hiatt, Hoosier Net board member and CFO of Ninestar Connect
• Tim Miles, Hoosier net board Member and Fiberhawk CEO.

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