Last Update – January 2025: In this update, we refreshed all data, goals, and projects in this category.
To get online, residents need equitable access to a sufficiently fast and reliable internet connection. By adding more public internet options, expanding our fiber footprint, gathering robust data on internet performance, and promoting resources to increase access, we’re working to ensure all residents in our community have this connectivity.
South Bend’s Current State:
South Bend has slightly lower levels of broadband (internet with speeds of at least 100 Mbps download/ 20 Mbps upload) availability and adoption when compared to peer cities. Though we have made significant progress since 2020, this still means that our residents are less likely to have high-speed internet service.
In South Bend, only 82.2% of households have a broadband subscription. Of those households, 12.4% rely exclusively on mobile data access. In total, this means nearly 1 in 3 South Bend households lack a home internet connection. While working to ensure South Bend’s mobile internet is fast, reliable, and affordable, we must also increase access to the opportunities that come with robust in-home access.
South Bend also sees low availability of fiber internet, which uses fiber optic cables to transmit information at the speed of light. It is the fastest, most reliable, and most future-proof (meaning it will be high-speed even as technology advances) form of connectivity available. Only 52.4% of South Bend’s residents are served by fiber providers. Again, though we have continued to make progress to increase this footprint, this remains below many of our peer cities.
The need for connectivity in South Bend is especially pronounced on the west side, which is disproportionately low-income, Black, and Hispanic. Achieving digital equity in South Bend will mean focusing particularly on these communities in our city, which see significantly lower rates of broadband subscription and fiber access. In some west side neighborhoods, more than 40% of households do not have an internet subscription. Explore the map below which highlights the intersection of race and internet access in our city.
Using the FCC’s new National Broadband Map, residents can explore the internet providers and technologies available at their address and in their neighborhood. This powerful tool can help consumers know their options when choosing a broadband provider while, at the same time, identifying potential infrastructure disparities across our community.
Connectivity Goals:
Most recent updates: January 2025
- Triple the number of South Bend Open Wi-Fi access points by the end of 2023.
- Update: Open Wi-Fi has grown by 100 access points since 2022. This is just below triple the pre-expansion size of the network, but we will continue to add new sites in the future. We have also leveraged private partners to further expand public internet access, including through two new Comcast Lift Zones.
- Expand South Bend’s fiber footprint to serve 90% of census blocks by 2030.
- Increase at-home internet subscriptions to at least 85% by 2025.
- Reach at least 50% participation in the Affordable Connectivity Program by the end of 2023.
- Update: when the Affordable Connectivity Program ended in early 2024, Education Superhighway reported that South Bend saw a 45% uptake rate. Though not at the level of our 50% goal, this is a substantial increase from the City’s 29% uptake rate in late 2022.
- Receive Indiana Broadband Ready Community designation by the end of 2022.
- Complete! See updates below.
- Win $2M in state and/or federal funding for broadband expansion programs by 2025.
- Update: We have already won two federal grants from new broadband spending, totaling nearly $500,000. See updates below.
- Include broadband-related questions in the City’s Community Survey and launch a citywide speed test campaign, collecting 600 responses for each by the end of 2022.
- Complete! See updates below.
- Publish the city’s first mobile internet speed map, showing coverage and speeds of major carriers throughout South Bend, by the end of 2022.
- Complete! See updates below.
What we’re doing now:
To reach these goals, we are engaged in projects and making commitments listed below. Please refer to this page often for updates as our efforts progress and we launch new initiatives.
Expanding Public Internet Access
- In 2022, we launched the largest expansion of Open Wi-Fi, South Bend’s public internet network, since its creation. With more public access points around town, residents without broadband subscriptions can access a secure, reliable internet connection at no cost.
- Since the start of this expansion, we added 100 access points across public parks, neighborhood and commercial corridors, community centers, and other public spaces.
- We have also worked with Comcast to expand Lift Zones, spaces with public internet access, in South Bend. We are now home to 3 Lift Zones, including the Beacon Resource Center, Motels4Now, and Project Impact.
Promoting Low Cost Internet Access
- Until the Affordable Connectivity Program (ACP) – a federal assistance program offering $30/month discounts on broadband – ended in 2024, the City led the Creating Connections Outreach Program to increase ACP uptake in our community.
- Through Creating Connections, which was supported by nearly $500,000 in grant funding from the FCC, a team of navigators helped residents through each step of the signup process. Over the grant period, ACP uptake went from 29% to 45%.
- Though ACP has ended, we are still working to promote low-cost internet access for South Bend residents.
Improving our Understanding of Broadband Access and Affordability
- To improve South Bend’s in-home broadband, we first need to understand its current state. Federal data is helpful but paints an incomplete picture of how much residents are paying for broadband and how fast their service is.
- In 2022, we launched a citywide Home Internet Speed Test to crowdsource data on residents’ broadband experience.
- We also included questions on broadband access and affordability for the first time in the 2022 South Bend Community Survey. This has continued in the City’s 2024 survey.
- In partnership with the Notre Dame Wireless Institute, we have also supported innovative strategies to measure broadband performance for at-home users.
Measuring Mobile Data in South Bend
- Given that 12% of South Bend families rely exclusively on mobile data for their internet access, understanding the speeds and signal strength that these residents are experiencing is critical to ensuring they have meaningful access to digital resources.
- In partnership with Notre Dame’s Wireless Institute, we deployed devices on solid waste vehicles to analyze mobile data speed and quality for major carriers throughout South Bend. This analysis, which will also help the City optimize its own operations with mobile devices, is available on the City’s Open Data Portal.
Applying for State and Federal Broadband Funding
- In 2021, the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act allocated $65 billion to broadband spending, much of which will be available to cities like ours through grant applications. We are eager to maximize our funding from these grant opportunities to increase digital access in South Bend.
- In partnership with the Michiana Area Council of Governments, the City applied for the Digital Equity Competitive Grant Program in 2024 to support investments in our regional digital equity resources.
- The City is also looking forward to applying for Digital Equity Capacity Grant Program funding which will be administered by the Indiana Broadband Office in 2025.
Connecting South Bend Students
- Since 2020, the City has supported the South Bend Community School Corporation (SBCSC) and enFocus in administering Citywide Classroom, a program providing students and their families with in-home broadband or mobile hotspots at no cost. Citywide Classroom was launched to address the immediate need for distance learning at the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic. Even as distance learning has decreased, the program has provided essential access for students and their families as more daily activities have shifted to digital settings.
- In 2022, the City invested $150,000 in the next generation of hotspots for South Bend students: a private LTE network owned and operated by SBCSC. In partnership with the South Bend Connectivity Coalition, this project leverages advances in spectrum policy and technology to give the schools a sustainable, reliable, and secure network they can use to connect students. The City will use additional capacity on the network to pilot smart city solutions.
Preparing South Bend for Investments as a Broadband Ready City
- In December of 2022, South Bend was named a Broadband Ready Community by the State of Indiana.
- This process involved coordinating community partnerships and aligning internal procedures to ensure that South Bend handles broadband projects efficiently and effectively.
- This designation helps position South Bend as an investment-ready partner for broadband expansion, especially as the Indiana Broadband Office begins administering $868 million in Broadband Equity Access and Deployment (BEAD) funding.
Continue to explore our Digital Equity Roadmap below for additional initiatives and resident resources!