InLine is proud to announce that they have been awarded a $20 million grant under the Broadband Technology Opportunities Program of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009. This grant will be used to build a high-speed, next-generation fiber network connecting 16 counties in southern and central Mississippi. InLine will match the federal contribution with $5 million of its own funds bringing the total investment in the network to $25 million. This network consists of over 600 miles of fiber optic cabling capable of carrying over 50 billion bits per second of information. This is over 30,000 times the capacity of the average business or residential internet connection today. As technology advances, even more capacity will become possible over this same fiber optic cable.

This network will initially connect over 200 schools, hospitals, police stations, and other public institutions at speeds of one gigabit (one billion bits) per second. Connections of these speeds will allow schools to implement distance learning programs so that students can take AP and other courses that would otherwise be unavailable in their districts and take virtual field trips to the Smithsonian, NASA, and beyond.

It will allow hospitals to roll out next generation telemedicine programs where specialists in Jackson or Hattiesburg can assist in the treatment of patients at rural hospitals and clinics. It will allow first responders to view video from schools and other sensitive sites in real time to improve public safety. In addition, consistent with the purpose of the BTOP program, the network will be open to other providers, allowing rural cable, telephone, and internet companies to deliver faster and more reliable connections to tens of thousands of residents and businesses in the 16 county Region. The counties to be served by the project include: Hinds, Rankin, Newton, Lauderdale, Leake, Copiah, Simpson, Lincoln, Lawrence, Jefferson Davis, Covington, Jones, Pike, Walthall, Marion, and Forrest.

InLine, with the support of organizations and people across south and central Mississippi, invested over 18 months of work, 3,000 e-mails, and over 4,000 pages of documentation in securing this competitive award. Martin Costa, President of InLine, stated that the award was the result of a clear and compelling vision for moving rural Mississippi forward into the 21st century combined with the tireless work and dedication of the entire InLine team. After an exhaustive competitive evaluation process InLine’s proposal was selected from among dozens of prospective projects. InLine’s project will begin immediately and is expected to take two years to complete. The project is expected to create over 30 direct jobs and thousands of indirect jobs for the region by making it more attractive for existing businesses to expand and new businesses to locate in the area. In addition, InLine expects to leverage the capabilities of this network to grow their 21st century classroom and InCare managed I.T. services business, which will create even more direct jobs.

InLine is a 19-year-old, employee-owned corporation based in Birmingham, Ala. InLine employs 85 people across its offices in Birmingham, Montgomery, and Decatur Alabama, and Jackson, Mississippi. InLine had gross sales of over $20 million in 2009. InLine is active in providing information technology solutions for businesses, education, state, and local government. These solutions include technology support, internet access, cloud computing, voice/data services, 21st century classrooms, cabling, network infrastructure, and intelligent traffic systems.

The Broadband Technology Opportunities Grant program is a component of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009, aimed at closing the digital divide for unserved and underserved areas of the country. Administered by the Commerce Department, BTOP recognizes that for America to remain competitive in the world, especially rural areas, high speed broadband internet access must be readily available. The program mandates that the infrastructure that is constructed using the stimulus funding must be open to competition and must respect network neutrality. This ensures that many companies can benefit from the new capabilities, whether to provide internet access, connect facilities, or deliver next generation services.

For additional information regarding InLine, please visit www.InLine.com.
For additional information regarding the BTOP program, please visit http://www2.ntia.doc.gov/.