Connect Ohio maps out broadband service

Feb. 25--A statewide effort to connect more Ohioans to affordable high-speed Internet service took another step Wednesday, with the launch of an online interactive map that will help consumers and small businesses see options that currently exist.

But the Connect Ohio initiative also sees the map as a way to fuel economic development by helping community leaders and policymakers see gaps in the broadband hole so they can apply for state and federal grants to fill it.

"The mapping tool provides support for our efforts to target investments that will help provide broadband access to all Ohioans, accelerating real economic development opportunities in areas such as Appalachian Ohiothat are currently underserved,"said Lisa Patt-McDaniel, directorof the Ohio Department of Development.

The map can be found at http://www.connectohio.org. Connect Ohio is an initiative supported by the Ohio Department of Administrative Services and more than 70 Ohio broadband providers. Connect Ohio's research shows that more than 205,000 Ohio households (about 5 percent) still don't have affordable access to high-speed Internet service at home, said Connect Ohio Executive Director Tom Fritz...