Hoosier Net, a collaborative of telecommunications network providers of middle mile services in Indiana, has become a member of INDATEL, a national independent member network headquartered in Kansas.
In a press release on the INDATEL website, Hoosier Net says it is in the process of connecting the majority of rural Indiana with fiber networks.
Hoosier Net also says that it aims to grow beyond the state’s borders. Membership in INDATEL is a key to that element of the expansion. Hoosier Net also wants its members to be in a position to offer their middle mile services to this larger nationwide footprint.
INDATEL members have more than 400,000 fiber route miles in 47 states. The network supports more than 1.5 million serviceable buildings through a national aggregation of PoPs and reaches more than 700 independent providers. Its focus is on rural and suburban areas.
“There are very few networks that have both ILECs, and REMCs working together to create a massive footprint,” Hoosier Net co-founder Rob Shema said in the press release. “We planned on pursuing an INDATEL membership right from the start, and since we are majority owned by telcos, we could qualify to be a member. We understand that we can’t be an island and that INDATEL provides the solution.”
Hoosier Net, with 17 service provider members, launched on June 1 to provide smaller operators middle mile options after Zayo acquired Intelligent Fiber Network (IFN). Hoosier Net has collaborated with Accord, a consortium of 18 rural electric membership corporations (REMCs) and ILECs in Indiana in an arrangement announced about three weeks after the announcement of Hoosier Net.
Hoosier Net members are operating thousands of miles of fiber, with the ultimate aim of reduce the cost of middle mile infrastructure for unserved and underserved areas of the state.
