Rural Indiana will soon have a fiber network

A small family owned telco plans to invest more than $3100 per customer to deliver fiber broadband service. Are they crazy? I think not. Rural areas tend to have higher take rates for services like satellite tv and internet - often at inflated prices. When deployed the customer base should grow spurred by new economic growth.

On Monday, executives of Ellettsville-based Smithville said they will invest $90 million over three years to build a fiber-optic network across 17 counties, including Hendricks County. The network will be faster than most offerings from cable and phone companies and will reach 29,000 customers, mostly in southwestern Indiana. (Indystar)