A rapidly growing broadband and telecom services provider in Charlotte recently secured about $5.6 million in grant funding to expand its fiber network in nine new markets across Indiana.
Brightspeed was awarded the money by Indiana's Next Level Connections Broadband Grant Program — an initiative created to improve broadband access and adoption in the state. The telecom company announced the funding today.
"Brightspeed’s service area is mostly rural and suburban communities that lack quality options for high-speed internet, a necessity in today’s hyper-connected world," a spokesperson told CBJ. "Building our fiber broadband network across those communities will give families and business owners what they need to work, play, study and thrive."
The new funding will expand Brightspeed's fiber internet services to 3,300 more Indiana locations in Carroll, Clinton, Daviess, Martin, Jay, Wells, Marshall, St. Joseph, Starke and Pulaski counties. The expansion is part of Brightspeed's multiyear investment to connect more that 120,000 locations across the state by the end of 2026.
Brightspeed currently serves nearly 32,000 families and businesses in Indiana.
The company said it plans to continue to pursue more state and federal funding to "augment its current fiber network build plan to help close the state’s digital divide."
Brightspeed announced a multistate expansion after launching in 2022. It is working to bring its internet services to more than 3 million homes and businesses across its 20-state footprint. That plan includes providing reliable internet service in more than 800,000 underserved homes in North Carolina over the next five years.
Brightspeed has the capacity to serve more than 6.5 million households and businesses.
In October 2022, the firm closed on a $7.5 billion deal to acquire network assets in 20 states from Lumen Technologies’ incumbent local exchange carrier (ILEC) business. As a result of that acquisition, Brightspeed officially launched as a separate operation owned by Apollo Global Management (NYSE: APO). It pledges to use its $2 billion from Apollo to continue to build a more efficient fiber network and increase its workforce.
With Lumen's team, Brightspeed has more than 4,000 employees nationwide.
The company's headquarters are in Vantage South End's east tower, which it moved into last year. The 27,000-square-foot space is on the seventh floor of that building. It can accommodate about 300 workers and houses the company's legal, marketing, finance and human resources divisions.
