STATEWIDE (NETWORK INDIANA) — Indiana is getting $15 million in federal grant money so that rural areas of the state can get access to high speed Internet. It’s all part of a nationwide program to bridge the digital divide, as described by Katrina Hall with the Indiana Farm Bureau. She tells WISH-TV that farmers are having to rely more and more on the Internet in order to get the best yield out of their crops. “About a third or more of people in rural areas of Indiana don’t have high speed Internet,” she said. “Many people just rely on their cellphone for Internet access, and that’s not sufficient to run a business.” She said every day new technology is being perfected to help farmers get more out of the crops they plant and the livestock they raise, with Internet access at the center of a lot of these advancements. But, getting farmers the access to Internet they need is still a massive challenge even with this large influx of federal grant money. “The goal is to have Internet in every household,” Hall said. “I’m not sure we’re going to make it. It’s continued investment by Internet service providers and the states so that our communities and people in rural Indiana are covered.” She said building the infrastructure for getting Internet access to sparsely populated areas of the state is expensive. Because of that and the low number of customers in these areas, it’s hard for some Internet providers to buy in with a low chance of turning a profit. Still, Hall said every little bit helps. This is the first round of the program. This project is part of an even larger federal grant worth $800 million dollars for various states to tap into. The post Indiana gets $15M grant for rural high-speed internet appeared first on WOWO News/Talk 92.3 FM and 1190 AM.