Governor Eric Holcomb recently ceremonially signed House Enrolled Act 1626, which creates a guideline requiring broadband-ready communities to establish a plan to increase the number of broadband service subscribers in their area.
Lawmakers plan to potentially utilize funding opportunities already in place called The Universal Service Fund, which is used to subsidize the cost of ensuring phone service to all Hoosiers, no matter their geographic isolation.
The author of the bill, Rep. Sharon Negele, R-Attica, says the legislation is not the solution, but the first of many steps to ensure widespread rural internet access.
"My goal is to get the conversation going and to look at all the angles and involve all the stakeholders," Negele says. "That's to me the most important component of this."
Negele says she drafted the bill with the many Hoosiers lacking affordable internet access on her mind, many of whom are in her district.