Closing the Digital Divide – Securing Broadband Funding for West Central Indiana

Challenge

In West Central Indiana, many rural communities remained unconnected or underserved by reliable broadband services, limiting access to education, healthcare and economic opportunities.

At the same time, the Next Level Connections (NLC) Broadband Grant Program presented a critical opportunity to fund expansion—but the process was highly competitive and required multiple, data-driven applications across several funding rounds.

RJL Solutions was engaged by a leading broadband provider to navigate this complexity and maximize funding opportunities across Rounds 2, 3 and 4 of the program.

Solution

RJL Solutions partnered with the broadband provider to lead a strategic and collaborative grant development process, managing the submission of 16 applications across three rounds of funding.

Each application was built to clearly demonstrate need and impact through a combination of targeted research, stakeholder collaboration and tailored messaging.

A data-driven approach anchored the work, incorporating demographic and geographic insights to highlight service gaps and prioritize underserved areas. RJL Solutions also worked closely with local government officials, community leaders and anchor institutions to ensure each proposal reflected real community needs and demonstrated broad regional support.

Every application was customized to showcase the provider’s technical capabilities, infrastructure plans and the economic and social benefits of expanded broadband access—positioning each submission competitively within the grant program.

Results

RJL Solutions’ efforts resulted in significant investment and measurable impact for West Central Indiana:

• $16,418,810 in Funding Secured: A total of $16.4 million in grant funding was secured across 16 applications, enabling large-scale broadband expansion in underserved communities.

• 1,000+ Households, Businesses and Institutions Connected: Funded projects will deliver reliable, high-speed broadband access to more than 1,000 households, businesses and anchor institutions.

• Closing the Digital Divide: These investments are expanding access to essential digital resources, improving connectivity for education, healthcare and economic opportunity across rural Indiana.