Connect Ohio Seeks to Make Broadband Access Widely Available

Congressman Zack Space, representing the 18th district of Ohio, recently traveled to McConnelsville to The Morgan County Learning Center as part of his Fighting to RENEW Ohio Tour near the end of last April. RENEW Ohio refers to a program created by Space in 2008, that focuses on promoting broadband access and other technologies that would be beneficial to the district. Space stressed the importance for the collaborative effort to be region-based, an association of counties.

Congressman Space led a discussion spotlighting the accomplishments of The Learning Center and focusing on future developments in broadband technology for Morgan County and the surrounding area. Traditionally having one of Ohio’s highest unemployment rates, Morgan County exhibits an example of a community that could not only improve, but profit, from an increase in modern technology availability.

Space addressed the issue of job scarcity, “Morgan County represents the challenges of rural America. There is no four-lane highway, transportation difficulties arise as well as a lack of access to both education and healthcare.” Space said.

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Martin Gottlieb: High-speed Internet access in rural areas not easy, but doable

Lots of people in this country still don’t have access to high-speed Internet service. At least not via cable. They might be able to get satellite service, but it’s expensive and often just doesn’t provide what the many millions now take for granted.

The reason for the absence of high-speed cable is that stringing it in sparsely populated areas is often not profitable.

So no one would be too surprised to learn that most of the places in Ohio that do not have broadband are in the rural eastern part of the state and along the southern border, east of Cincinnati.

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High-speed Internet going rural

High-speed Internet going rural
Federal stimulus money will bring broadband to a number of unserved areas across Ohio
Thursday, May 13, 2010 2:52 AM
By Doug Caruso
THE COLUMBUS DISPATCH

Federal stimulus money will help build broadband Internet access in five rural areas in Ohio covering about 18,000 households.

That includes a project that will string fiber-optic cable alongside electric lines in northern Delaware County and another to broadcast wireless Internet signals in areas that have no high-speed access near Pickerington, Ashville and Circleville.

Most of those homes are in areas that have been identified as having little or no high-speed Internet access in surveys by Connect Ohio, a partnership between the state and the telecommunications industry that mapped out Ohio's Internet needs.

So far, four small utility companies in Ohio have been approved to receive a total of $12.15 million in stimulus grants and loans through the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Rural Utilities Service.

More money likely is on the way: The USDA received $2.5 billion in the stimulus bill to spend on rural Internet service.

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