Sparklight Archives - Indiana Cable and Broadband Association

Sparklight to Begin Accepting Applications for Charitable Giving Fund to Support Local Nonprofit Organizations

March 26, 2024

Sparklight® will begin accepting spring 2024 applications on April 1 for the company’s Charitable Giving Fund, which annually awards $250,000 in grants to 501(c)(3) nonprofit organizations. Applications will be accepted through April 30, 2024.

Charitable Giving Fund grants will be made available across communities served by Sparklight and the other Cable One family of brands (Fidelity Communications, Hargray and ValuNet Fiber) and will concentrate support in the following priority areas:

Education and Digital Literacy
Hunger Relief and Food Insecurity
Community Development

Last year, the company awarded grants to more than 50 nonprofits, including organizations devoted to the above priority areas as well as teen suicide prevention, homelessness resources, poverty disruption, child advocacy and more.

“We are honored to support nonprofit organizations helping those most in need in the communities we serve,” said Julie Laulis, Cable One President and CEO. “Being a strong local partner is central to our values and we are proud to help make a positive difference where we live and work.”

The Charitable Giving Fund is an extension of the company’s existing corporate social responsibility efforts, which include:

Supporting national organizations dedicated to advancing education and diversity, including the Emma Bowen Foundation and the National Diversity Council.
Supporting the mission of Special Olympics, which provides year-round sports training and athletic competition, as well as health, arts, leadership, and advocacy programs for children and adults with intellectual disabilities.
Planting trees through the Arbor Day Foundation on behalf of customers who switch to paperless billing. Since 2015, the company has planted 140,000 trees in its markets and national forests within the company’s footprint.
Supporting the mission of Keep America Beautiful in cleaning up and beautifying communities across the U.S.
Fighting hunger in local communities through volunteerism and donations, as well as supporting organizations such as Feed My Starving Children. Since 2018, Cable One has donated more than 51 tons of food and nearly $500,000 to address food insecurity.

For more information about the Cable One Charitable Giving Fund, please visit www.sparklight.com/charitablegiving.

Source: Sparklight

Sparklight to Award $15,000 to Support STEM Education Through Its 6 th Annual “Dream Bigger” Contest

February 22, 2024

Six winners to each receive $2,500 to support K-12 STEM projects

Sparklight, a leading broadband communications provider, invites schools and organizations serving K-12 students to enter its 6 th annual “Dream Bigger” contest for the opportunity to win $2,500 for their science, technology, engineering or math (STEM) project or club.

K-12 schools and organizations in communities throughout the 21 states Sparklight serves are eligible to participate. Entries can be made at sparklight.com/contest by sending a photo and written summary outlining how the funds will be used for a technology project or group and how it will benefit students. Six winners will each receive a $2,500 donation.

“STEM education helps students develop the critical thinking and problem-solving skills needed for academic and career success,” said Trish Niemann, Vice President of Communications Strategy. “Through Sparklight’s annual Dream Bigger contest, we are proud to help fund STEM-based initiatives that encourage students to develop these skills and find their passion within this rapidly growing career field.”

Entries will be accepted from February 22 through March 12, 2024, at sparklight.com/contest. Twelve finalists will be selected by Sparklight, and the six winners will be determined by public online voting from March 14 through March 21 at the same site. The finalists and winning schools and organizations will be highlighted on Sparklight’s Facebook, Instagram and X (formerly Twitter) pages.

Source: Sparklight

Cable One Donates 10,000 Pounds of Food to Support Local Food Banks

December 19, 2023

Associates across the Cable One® family of brands (Sparklight, Fidelity, Hargray, ValuNet and Cable America) donated more than 10,000 pounds of food to local food banks this holiday season to help alleviate food insecurity across the communities served by the leading broadband provider.

Sabrina Johnston, Food Drive Coordinator for St. Mary’s Food Bank in Phoenix, said the current economic environment is creating significant demand on St. Mary’s Food Bank and food banks around the country.

“As we work to provide more than 250,000 meals a day – the most in our 56-year history – donations from partners like Cable One mean that fewer families will go hungry this holiday season,” Johnston said. “We appreciate the continued support of Cable One in providing food and monetary donations to St. Mary’s Food Bank over the past six years.”

Cable One donated nearly 5,000 pounds of food and more than $15,000 to St. Mary’s Food Bank earlier this month.

Cable One President and CEO Julie Laulis said the company is committed to helping alleviate hunger in the 24 states Cable One serves through its annual food drive.

“Local food banks are fulfilling the critical need of feeding at-risk community members who might otherwise go hungry due to the challenging economic environment,” Laulis said. “We are proud to support their mission through donations that will help provide immediate aid to individuals and families in need.”

Since 2018, Cable One has donated more than 51 tons of food and more than $500,000 to address food insecurity.

Source: Sparklight

Free Sparklight Internet Available Through FCC Affordable Connectivity Program

November 29, 2023

As part of its ongoing commitment to bridge the digital divide and ensure affordable internet access to the communities it serves, Sparklight® today announced a free internet service for qualifying households through the FCC’s Affordable Connectivity Program (ACP). Eligible households can now take advantage of fast and reliable internet at no cost.

Available to individuals who qualify for ACP, Sparklight customers can sign up for internet service that includes 100 Mbps download speed, unlimited data and a modem, free after the government’s ACP credit is applied. All Sparklight internet plans up to 1 Gig qualify for ACP, so those in need of a higher level of service can select the speed best suited for their needs and the $30/month (up to $75/month in Tribal Lands in Oklahoma) ACP benefit will be applied to the selected tier of broadband service.

“Our participation in the FCC’s Affordable Connectivity Program reflects our deep commitment to addressing digital equity across our footprint and ensuring families stay connected to reliable internet service at an affordable cost,” said Matthew Armstrong, Sparklight Senior Vice President of Residential Services. “Through this program we can reach low-income households across our footprint and ensure cost is not a barrier to reliable connectivity.”

New and existing Sparklight customers can visit www.sparklight.com/acp for more information, to determine eligibility and sign up.

Source: Sparklight

Sparklight Teams with eero to Launch Advanced Whole-Home Connectivity Solution

October 31, 2023

Sparklight®, a leading broadband communications provider, today announced the launch of Wall-To-Wall WiFi, an advanced whole-home connectivity solution that provides fast, reliable and secure internet throughout the home.

Teaming up with eero, an Amazon company, Sparklight will offer the eero Pro6E to deliver comprehensive WiFi coverage throughout the home – regardless of size or shape, creating a wide-ranging signal that eliminates dead zones. Powered by the latest Wi-Fi 6 technology, Wall-To-Wall WiFi connects and transmits wirelessly up to 1 Gig, while eero’s patented TrueMesh technology learns the layout of a network to intelligently route traffic and help optimize a customer’s WiFi.

Every eero device comes with encryption and security protocols, and ongoing security updates to help protect against the latest threats. In addition, eero Secure enhances your eero with services to help keep your connected devices safe and secure with advanced parental control features, active threat protection, and ad blocking. An eero Plus option will be available to customers, providing an additional layer of advanced online security with eero Dynamic DNS, licenses for 1Password, Malwarebytes, and encrypt.me VPN, and more.

“Wall-To-Wall WiFi will give our customers an exceptional whole-home internet connectivity experience, delivering faster speeds, reliable coverage and advanced online security that allows for safe and fast browsing, streaming, gaming and social networking,” said Ken Johnson, Cable One Chief Technology and Digital Officer.

The company’s new Wall-To-Wall WiFi is managed through a convenient and easy-to-use app, which enables customers to view and manage their network – from anywhere, at any time.

“Residential WiFi needs are constantly growing as customers continue to work, learn and access entertainment using multiple devices in their homes,” Johnson said. “With the capacity to support more than 100 connected devices simultaneously, Wall-To-Wall WiFi meets those ever-changing needs, giving our customers a superior internet experience they can trust and rely on.”

Sparklight, part of the Cable One family of brands, continues to invest in bringing fast and reliable internet to the communities it serves. Over the past three years, the company has invested more than $1 billion across its footprint in network upgrades and enhancements to stay ahead of customer demand for increased speed and data and to lay the groundwork to launch speeds as fast as 10 Gigabits (10G) and beyond. With the launch of eero and the company’s roadmap to next gen DOCSIS 4.0 underway, Sparklight is looking forward to delivering speed 10 times faster than today’s networks – transforming the customer experience, creating new possibilities for smart cities, connected homes, virtual and augmented reality and business.

More information about Wall-To-Wall WiFi can be found by visiting www.sparklight.com/wall-to-wall-wifi.

Source: Sparklight

Middle school in Vincennes Wins Sparklight’s “Dream Bigger” campaign

May 9, 2023

A southern Indiana middle school won Sparklight’s “Dream Bigger” campaign. The campaign gives money to schools that provide students with hands-on science, technology, engineering and mathematics education.

Clark Middle School in Vincennes was one of six schools awarded $2,500. The money will be going to the school’s robotics team. Engineering and robotics teacher Justin Kotter says his class has some big plans with this extra money.

“It’s really exciting, especially to see the excitement on the kids’ faces. We’ll be able to grow this program and be able to add another robot or two for the next year,” Kotter said.

Vincennes Mayor Joe Yochum attended the ceremony. Students in the program showed the mayor and others who attended some of the robots they created this school year.