Allen County partners with Lakeland Internet to level up broadband access
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Leaders in Allen County are angling to improve quality of life and retain rural residents by leveling up an essential service: broadband internet.
Allen County Commissioners have announced a public-private partnership with Angola-based Lakeland Internet which will bring faster wireless speeds to over 61,000 households, primarily in the southern and eastern portions of the county.
The county is pitching in $1.2 million of its American Rescue Plan Act funding to pay for Lakeland—which is owned by Surack Enterprises—to upgrade its infrastructure. The funding makes the upgrades possible in rural areas where it otherwise wouldn’t make financial sense.
“At this point in today’s day and age, access to internet is not a luxury. It is a utility; It truly is,” said Joshua Garman, Lakeland Internet’s operations manager. “I mean, kids have e-learning days that they have to connect to. Grandparents have video calls with doctors and things like that. I mean, it truly is a utility.”
Garman says the county funding helped cover the installation of fiber infrastructure in and around wireless towers. He said new customers won’t have to pay for any installation beyond a regular monthly service fee.
The announcement is welcome news to Tamyra Kelly, public information officer for East Allen County Schools. The district has around 10,000 students and stretches from urban areas on the outskirts of Fort Wayne to more rural areas to the east.
Before the pandemic, internet access was nice to have but not a necessity outside of school. But with the rise of e-learning, Kelly hears of students who travel to relatives’ houses or restaurants for reliable internet access so they can do their school work.
“Back in my kids’ time, it was a luxury to have high-speed internet. But now, it’s a necessity for our 21st century learning. The new service will ensure that all of our students, regardless of their zip code, have access to the tools they need to succeed. I think it’s just a win for our communities and we’re excited about that,” said Kelly. She added all students in the district have school-issued iPads.
For Lakeland, the new partnership follows a string of expansion in the past few years. Lakeland started in Steuben County, but has worked its way south by acquiring BaseLine Internet, which operated in Leo, last year.
In 2019 another Chuck Surack-owned business, Sweetwater, bought ZipSpider, which had operated in Angola. Garman said Surack was a part of conversations between Lakeland and Allen County Commissioners to help the project get off the ground.
Lakeland is also opening its first field office in Fort Wayne in August as part of the Allen County partnership. Garman said the rollout of service will take place over the next few months, with towns like Roanoke, Yoder, Zanesville, Ossian, Hoagland, Monroeville, Edgerton, Woodburn, Harlan, Leo-Cedarville and Spencerville as the focus.
If rural parts of Indiana are to retain population, Garman says internet access is a big part of the equation.
“It’s really exciting because we collected a lot of data beforehand. We talked with these communities … and the exciting part now is where we get to actually interact with these customers and see the smile on their face when they get hooked up,” Garman said.