Southern Indiana Business Report
INDIANAPOLIS – Indiana Farm Bureau has announced the formation of the Indiana Broadband Strategic Partnership to help bring reliable broadband to the most unserved and underserved communities across the state. According to the May 26 announcement, the IBSP also includes Cook Medical Group, Duke Energy Foundation, Indiana Association of Realtors, Radius Indiana and the Regional Opportunities Initiative.
This partnership will promote the Indiana Speed Test, a crowd-sourced internet speed test created by GEO Partners LLC, a Minnesota-based company that focuses on enabling cost-effective planning and deployment of broadband. GEO Partners is working to gather broadband data with other states, including Minnesota, Washington, Maine, Kentucky and Nebraska, as well as the nationally designated Delta Regional Authority that covers parts of eight states along the Mississippi River.
“Since access to reliable broadband is one of the most important challenges facing rural communities today, Indiana Farm Bureau sought organizations that advocate on behalf of rural Indiana to begin finding and developing solutions,” said Randy Kron, INFB president. “Data is a critical piece to help local broadband groups and the state of Indiana invest where service is needed and to avoid overbuilding infrastructure. With their groundbreaking work in other states, GEO Partners is a perfect fit.”
The Indiana Speed Test is now available on the INFB website — www.infb.org/speedtest — along with the websites of the initial partners and a growing list of collaborating organizations, including the Purdue Center for Regional Development, Association of Indiana Counties, Indiana Association of Regional Councils, Indiana Hospital Association and Indiana Broadband, housed within the Indiana Lieutenant Governor’s Office.
GEO Partners provides real-time internet speed data by collecting speed test information from residents. Displayed on geographic information system layers, the data pinpoints areas that are most in need of reliable, affordable access to broadband service.
The goal for the Indiana Speed Test is to gather data in all areas of Indiana. The GEO Partners software platform and the data will be available to local governments and organized broadband groups to analyze potential solutions and aid their applications for Indiana’s Next Level Connections Grants and a variety of federal grants. The initiative’s organizers hope that the Indiana Speed Test data will jumpstart efforts to plan broadband infrastructure investments from the local portions of the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021, allowing decision-makers to make investments with the greatest impact.
The speed test may be performed multiple times on any device that has an internet or cellular connection. The test takes less than one minute to complete, and no personal information will be collected.
“All Hoosiers are encouraged to participate in the Indiana Speed Test, the more locations, the more data points we’ll be able to map to highlight what connections are available and speeds Hoosiers are getting at those locations,” Kron added. “We are confident that GEO Partners will help all broadband stakeholders in Indiana by mapping actual internet speeds and identifying the most efficient methods to invest in broadband infrastructure.”