Smithville builds out $10 million in new 2023 fiber construction

ELLETTSVILLE, Indiana – Over the past 10 months, Smithville leveraged upwards of $10 million in private investments to design and build new high-speed symmetrical gigabit-capable fiber networks in several rural areas of southern Indiana, according to Darby A. McCarty, Smithville Chairman and CEO.

The latest project features a 382-home expansion in the Stinesville area, where physical network design has been completed and fiber construction is getting underway. The town’s region will be built through private investments by Smithville in three phases, with the second and third phases – including the town of Stinesville – beginning in 2024.

“Over the past year we focused on upgrading legacy copper service to high-speed fiber in a number of our long-time rural service areas, which has been a continuing goal of Smithville,” Ms. McCarty explained. “By leveraging private investments, we can move faster and more efficiently to bring much-needed fiber capacity to these remote areas.”

Since being among the first to deploy commercial fiber developments in the early 1990s, Smithville has since actively made more than a quarter of a billion dollars of private investments in constructing fiber networks for Hoosier homes, businesses, educational institutions, hospitals, cities, and more.

Referencing Smithville’s long-time experience and expertise in fiber planning and construction, Cullen McCarty, Executive Vice President, noted that: “In the days ahead, symmetrical multi-gigabit-capable fiber infrastructure will continue to be the gold standard for high-speed connectivity – Smithville has and will continue to play a committed role in elevating Indiana’s strategic ability to compete in economic development and for its citizens to enjoy a higher quality of life through reliable, low latency, gigabit fiber.” Gigabit-level fiber will ultimately serve as the bedrock foundation for new technological deployments such as virtual reality (VR) and augmented reality (AR) devices.

He added: “We have additional projects that we’re considering or are already in the design stage – we remain both committed to state-of-the-art fiber builds and the deployment of smart technology to power residential and commercial fiber.”

In addition to Stinesville, new fiber networks under construction by the nationally recognized top 100 broadband company in 2023 include areas north, east, west, and southwest of Bloomington (Indiana). These include areas in southeast Greene County, the Stanford area southwest of Bloomington, the Indian Hills region in the Gosport area of Owen County, western Monroe County, and more. Well over 1,000 homes and businesses in these rural areas now have or soon will have high-speed fiber connectivity, according to Paul Quick, Smithville President.

“These recent projects have been completed while facing both storm-related challenges and terrain issues like dense rock in certain areas of southern Indiana,” Quick noted. “We have an excellent construction team that knows how to do what it takes to serve Hoosiers in rural communities and areas.”

Casey Smith, superintendent of outside plant for Smithville, regularly provides fiber construction video updates on social media, including Facebook and LinkedIn. People interested in exploring possible fiber or other services in the Smithville area can check online at https://www.smithville.com/statusmap/

#     #     #

About Smithville

Nationally recognized for more than a decade as a Top 100 Broadband Company, privately owned Smithville is Indiana’s largest independent telecom company with more than 200 employees. As a fifth-generation, family-owned business, Smithville has been committed to delivering fast and reliable connectivity and legendary customer service for over a full century. The company is well-known as an industry leader and community supporter for rural Indiana. Since the early 1990s, Smithville has constructed more than 3,000 miles of high-speed, high-capacity fiber across more than 22 Indiana counties, representing private investments totaling upward of a quarter of a billion dollars.

In addition to its residential services, Smithville provides commercial fiber-based connectivity for businesses, university campuses, biotechnology companies, healthcare providers, government offices, residential centers, communities, and other entities, including the WestGate@Crane Technology Park and the Purdue Research Park. The company serves about 23,000 businesses and residences in southern and central Indiana. For more information, please visit www.smithville.com.

Media inquiries: Michael Snyder MEK