U.S. Sen. Sherrod Brown, D-Ohio, cheered Monday’s groundbreaking of a project that will expand access to broadband for 34 counties in Appalachia. The project would deploy more than 1,900 miles of fiber optic network to more than 705,000 households and connect nearly 600 community anchors. The funds were awarded to the Ohio Middle Mile Consortium, which Brown helped to facilitate after he fought to devote $2.5 billion worth of Recovery Act broadband funding for rural broadband projects. Brown said he has fought to secure additional funding for broadband investments. During Senate consideration of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (ARRA), Brown authored an amendment to increase USDA funding by $2.5 billion to target rural and underserved communities.
Lauren Kulik of Brown’s office said the company is based in Chillicothe, and in addition to Scioto, the counties benefiting from the CAOMMC include: Adams, Athens, Belmont, Brown, Carroll, Clermont, Columbiana, Coshocton, Fairfield, Fayette, Gallia, Guernsey, Harrison, Highland, Hocking, Holmes, Jackson, Jefferson, Knox, Lawrence, Licking, Meigs, Monroe, Morgan, Muskingum, Noble, Perry, Pickaway, Pike, Ross, Tuscarawas, Vinton and Washington.
“If we want to promote economic development throughout Ohio, we need to ensure that businesses and households have broadband access,” Brown said. “Ohio’s rural communities have been overlooked for too long, but today’s groundbreaking is great news for southeastern Ohio. Ohio Middle Mile and Horizon’s cooperation will help promote economic growth and improve the competitiveness of Ohio communities in underserved areas. This is an investment in the future of our state.”
Brown also said broadband bridges the digital gap that too often disadvantages rural Ohio — undermining business development and compromising timely access to basic public services such as fire, police and health care. In August 2010, the U.S. Departments of Agriculture and Commerce announced that Ohio’s Middle Mile Consortium (OMMC), a public-private statewide partnership, would receive more than $141 million in total funds from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) for broadband expansion. Horizon Telcom’s Connecting Appalachian Ohio proposal was awarded $66.5 million in funds to expand broadband access for 34 counties in southeastern Ohio.
According to an analysis released by the National Economic Council last year, overall Recovery Act investments in broadband are expected to create tens of thousands of jobs in the near term and expand economic development and job opportunities in communities that would otherwise be left behind in the new knowledge-based economy. Upon passage of the Recovery Act in 2009, Brown convened a day-long workshop among potential broadband applicants and brought U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Undersecretary Dallas Tonsager to Ohio to discuss the application process and encourage local collaboration and partnerships.
FRANK LEWIS may be reached at (740) 353-3101, ext. 232, or flewis@heartlandpublications.com.
Look Deeper type people live in a bubble that won't realize what's spinning the world.
Rural areas use internet services for way more than the city dudes imagine. They probably aren't aware that even slooping hgs has gotten more into technology. The aggregate plants that mine stone for the cities use computers, etc.
Enough said about how selfish people think! Go to Krogers and get their milk, cuss the rural people for driving on the roads and making potholes, let them keep their trains, boats, police cars in town too. A country boy will survive but they have paid into this tax system also.
jj
First you have to have incentive and willingness for an individual or company to invest in a local economy.
If tax dollars are to be spent increasing rates of exchange, then let it be for ease of transportation speed instead of speed of rural Internet data rate exchange. A rural data rate increase without even a paragraph of commercial planning is practically putting the cart before the horse.
Every million dollars that can be channeled to the 823 bypass would be by far a best use of funds to create a reasonable chance for economic growth in the Scioto County area.
No offense implied CadeStone.
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*** The better of two things to increase the rate of exchange:
The 823 ByPass is better thought of as an increase in transport speed/exchange. However, first and foremost; in order to respect the family's who will loose their land and heritage, the use of that land should not be left to chance; it should deliver an overall benefit to the community if taken from familys like that.
There should be another on/off ramp access point a mile or so below the airport. That will encourage an environment to expand physical commerce. The as-planned airport Barklow road access point dumps traffic off into a land-locked bottleneck on the Rt 335 two lane state highway. The airport cuts off creating a commercial/industrial park. Commercial traffic has nowhere to go except north and south on 335; but then to what open land area? That area of Minford has already built schools houses, and small retail zones.
The 823 Bypass recognizes three mandates: 1) Increase Safety 2) Decrease Commute Times ( increase transport speed) 3) Increase Economic benefit
As-planned currently, the more-realistic Economic Increase benefit is at the southern end of the bypass; along Rt 52 from Rt 522 to the Lawrence County border. No substantial benefit along the bypass' length (eg Minford area).
Closer to Wheelers Mill is the ideal exit to fulfill the long term "Economic Mandate' the 823 ByPass is suppose to deliver. Also, the east side of the valley is above average flood plain. The current plan should be changed NOW to at least move enough dirt around to easily facilitate a future commercial access point on/off ramp.
Or, we can spend more of that so-called recovery act money so that rural folks can twitter faster.
Lets be objective, is it worth that much money so that a few rural folks can shop online or view their facebook faster?
There are far more important infrastructure to delpoy than wiring rural Ohio with Fiber Optic speed Internet.