Paulding Putnam Electric Cooperative (PPEC) says it has received $13.2 million in federal broadband grant support to help fund a major fiber-to-the-home expansion to rural unserved segments of northeast Indiana.

According to a cooperative announcement, the co-op will receive $13.2 million in BEAD (Broadband, Equity, Access, and Deployment) federal grant funding from the Indiana Broadband Office, matched by $10.3 million in cooperative investment, to bring affordable fiber to thousands of unserved residents in Allen, Adams, DeKalb and Noble counties.

PPEC’s fiber network passes more than 18,600 locations in Ohio and Indiana, with the cooperative having formally launched its major expansion project last year.

"This investment will make a lasting difference for the communities we serve," PPEC CEO Randy Price said of the grant award. "Reliable, high-speed internet has become a necessity for education, healthcare, agriculture, business, and everyday life. Many of our members have waited far too long for access to dependable broadband. With support from the BEAD program, we're able to accelerate fiber deployment and deliver a long-term solution that will benefit our members and strengthen our communities well into the future.”

In deployed fiber markets, the cooperative offers symmetrical 250 megabit per second (Mbps) fiber for $60 a month; symmetrical 500 Mbps fiber for $80 a month; and symmetrical 1 gigabit per second (Gbps) fiber for $120 a month, with a variety of additional phone, Wi-Fi, and battery-backup add-on options.

The Paulding Putnam Electric Cooperative (PPEC) says it has officially launched the construction of a major new residential fiber expansion project that should dramatically improve affordable fiber access across major swaths of Northwest Ohio and Northeast Indiana.

According to an announcement by the co-op, mainline construction of the extended network technically started last April in the Haviland and Latty substation area, and extended during the month of June to the Roselm substation area.

The first fiber customer is expected to be connected to the new residential fiber service starting this fall. The full project is expected to be completed by 2028, when the cooperative says it will determine whether it’s going to extend into non-member territories.

Founded in 1935, PPEC currently serves roughly 13,000 electrical customers across Ohio and Indiana. The cooperative says it’s partnering with counties and villages throughout Ohio and Indiana to identify areas of need and “ensure that expansion efforts align with local priorities.”

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The cooperative Board of Trustees unanimously voted to provide fiber internet as a new service offered by the co-op in July of 2024. The co-op says it has budgeted around $4 million in 2025 for system reliability upgrades (including 20 miles of old copper line rebuilds) and fiber installation efforts.