Blackford County Unveils Fiber Optic Project
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As a subscriber you can listen to articles at work, in the car, or while you work out. Subscribe NowThe Blackford County Economic Development Corp. is partnering with Nashville-based BG Networking on a major fiber optic project. The organization says the effort involves the installation of more than 20 miles of high-speed fiber optic cable throughout the county.
November 14, 2014
News Release
Blackford County, Ind. — Officials from Blackford County, Hartford City, and Montpelier announced today a major project to install more than twenty miles of high speed fiber optic cable throughout the community.
“This is a great day for Blackford County,” said Montpelier Mayor Kathy Bantz. “High speed broadband is an essential piece of infrastructure just like roads and sewers. Over the past few years, our community has struggled to connect to the Internet with reliability and high speeds. This project will solve those problems and give our local economy the global access it needs.”
Construction of the high speed network will start near the Blackford County Security Center, proceed west into Hartford City, and then north to Montpelier. Construction will begin immediately and is expected to be complete by April 2015. When complete, the network will contain 20.3 miles of cable and will be able to handle speeds of up to 1 gigabit per second. Initially, the service will be available to business, non-profit, and municipal facilities. At least 30 organizations are expected to connect right away. Following the connection of business and government facilities, Internet and telephone services will become available to residents.
Blackford County Commissioner Scott Confer applauded the project as a step toward the future. “This project will provide an immediate benefit to our businesses that need a stable, fast connection,” he remarked. “It also positions our local economy for future growth by giving existing companies access to this powerful tool as well as enabling us to continue attracting new jobs and investment from around the world.”
The officials announced that they had recently finalized a partnership with BG Networking to build the network. At no cost to Blackford County, BG Networking will be making the total investment to install the fiber optic network. Based in Nashville, Indiana, BG Networking is currently providing broadband and telephone services to businesses, schools, municipalities and residents in rural communities. BG Networking is currently working with numerous counties to provide high speed fiber optic broadband to much needed areas throughout Indiana.
“We have worked hard over past six months to understand the specific broadband needs of Blackford County,” commented Bryan Gabriel, President of BG Networking. “We are excited to invest in this critical infrastructure to serve this community. This project will deliver consistent, high speeds at affordable prices.”
Teamwork was the key to making this project a reality according to Hartford City Mayor Ben Hodgin. “This was truly a collaborative effort which required commitment from two cities, the county, local leaders, business owners, and the vendor. Everyone worked hard to bring this asset to our community, and everyone is going to benefit from it.”
About Blackford County
In 2013, Blackford County Schools received an “A,” Indiana's highest rating based on student performance. Blackford County is the home of NASA Astronaut Colonel Kevin Ford who recently returned from space where he served as Commander of Expedition 34. Blackford County's Jim Kline was recognized in 2011 as North America's Top Producer by Top Producer Magazine. Many great recycling manufacturing companies call Blackford County home, including: Hartford City Paper, Hartford Iron & Metal, Naturally Recycled Proteins, Petoskey Plastics, and Reflective Industries. For more information, visit www.BlackfordCountySites.com or contact Jacob Everett at jeverett@blackfordcoedc.org.
About BG Networking
BG Networking is a privately owned company based in Nashville, Indiana. The company's business plan is to absorb the cost of providing high speed fiber optic broadband in rural Indiana communities. BG Networking is a licensed telecommunications provider in the State of Indiana. For more information visit www.bgnetworking.com.
Source: Blackford County Economic Development Corporation