Mayor Kerry Thomson

Page last updated on March 27, 2024 at 9:50 am

The purpose of this page is to share information about the City's efforts to provide high-speed fiber internet service to all city residents.  

GigabitNow and Meridiam Project Construction

Construction Update: Permitting and construction have begun in various areas of Bloomington.  For information about ongoing fiber construction and ISP services, Bloomington residents should call or email GigabitNow Support at support@gigabitnow.com or 1-800-315-3509. More information is available at https://www.gigabitnow.com/bloomington/ including a construction/service status map.

    Meridiam Project

    The City has recently announced Meridiam plans for a city-wide high-speed fiber network.

    • Project Announcement: https://bloomington.in.gov/mayor/speeches/2022/10/07/5340
    • Project Announcement Invitation: https://bloomington.in.gov/news/2022/10/05/5330
    • Project Update: https://bloomington.in.gov/news/2022/09/22/5319
    • Project Announcement: https://bloomington.in.gov/news/2022/05/13/5179
    • Letter of Intent: https://bloomington.in.gov/news/2021/11/16/5019
    • Project FAQ: https://bloomington.in.gov/news/2022/05/13/5180

    Meridiam Project Documents

    Goals

    Overall, the City is working to make gigabit class fiber internet service available to every residence and business in Bloomington. Our future economy, healthcare, education, and quality of life will be affected by the quality of our digital infrastructure. Specific goals include:

    • City-wide coverage, leaving no neighborhoods behind
    • Open Access fiber network support 1Gbps and higher speeds
    • Community control so Bloomington has a say to ensure the network meets our long-term needs.
    • Sustainable business model
    • Robust digital equity program to assure better access for low-income or disadvantaged residents
    • Net neutrality
    • Completion within a few years
    • Substantially funded by partner, not taxpayers

    Digital Equity Initiative Outline

    • 250 Mbps up & down. No connection fees
    • $0: $30/month - $30 Affordable Connectivity Program (ACP) subsidy
    • Meridiam DE staff + $85k annually into City Digital Equity Fund
    • Available at all BHA apartment buildings
    • Eligible for DE program if eligible for one or more of the following:
      • Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP); HUD Housing Vouchers (also referred to as Section 8 Vouchers); The Indiana Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF); the Indiana Department of Education’s free and reduced-price meals eligibility criteria; Old Age, Survivors, and Disability Insurance (OASDI) recipients of Supplemental Security Income (SSI); the National School Lunch Program or the School Breakfast Program, including through the USDA Community Eligibility Provision; Medicaid; Federal Public Housing Assistance; WIC; or Veterans Pension or Survivor Benefits.

    Recent History

    The City has continued to seek a partner to meet our goals.  Recent conversations with potential partner Wyyerd faltered, but lead directly to conversations and site visits with Meridiam.

    RFI Process

    The City issues an RFI in 2016 seeing a partner to meet our high-speed connectivity goals.  The process yield close calls with Axia and Metronet as potential partners, but ultimately unwound when those providers were purchased and/or shifted their targeted markets. 

    Fiber Symposium

    The City held symposium on Next Generation High Speed Networks at City Hall, on March 1, 2016. The symposium brought in leading national and local experts in this field. The symposium included presentations and panel discussions by leading national and local experts which will detail compelling cases and experiences. Notable Speakers included:

    • Blair Levin, Executive Director, Gig.U

    • Aaron Deacon, Managing Director, KC Digital Drive

    • Lev Gonick, CEO, OneCommunity

    • Joanne Hovis, President, CTC Technology & Energy

    • Elise Kohn, Principal Analyst, CTC Technology & Energy

    • Mike Sullivan, Associate Director of Health Sciences, Internet2

    Video from the symposium is available on YouTube at https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLRZYPCNKsx6q6Jh8EQA-2xyH1R29zM7E5

    Symposium Announcement: https://bloomington.in.gov/news/2016/02/24/1855

    Google Fiber

    In 2010 the City of Bloomington has created the bloom4fiber campaign to get feedback from the community in order to develop a thorough, targeted and creative response to Google's Fiber for Communities project. Google is proposing to build Fiber-to-the-Premise (FTTP) networks in a small number of selected communities in the US. These networks would operate at 1 gigabit/s speeds, 100-1000 times current broadband speeds, vastly faster than current broadband speeds.

    Google will choose communities to deploy this network based on the response from the community's office government filing and from the nominations made by local residents, organizations and businesses.

    BDU

    The Bloomington Digital Underground (BDU) is the City's fiber optic and conduit network.  It provides for the City's networking needs, but has excess conduits available to support the City's broader high-speed fiber goals.