Brown Announces Nearly $10 M for Rural Broadband Projects in Ohio Nearly $10 million in grants and loans to bridge the digital divide and boost economic development for Ohio communities held back by limited or no access to the technology
BigNews.Biz - Mar 05,2010 - U.S. Sen. Sherrod Brown (D-OH) announced nearly $10 million in grants and loans to bridge the digital divide and boost economic development for Ohio communities held back by limited or no access to the technology. The award, distributed by the Ohio Department of Commerce was allocated by the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) of 2009.
"Broadband access is a matter of equal opportunity," Brown said. "Expanding high-speed Internet access is critical to improving the economic competitiveness of Ohio's rural and underserved urban areas. Today's award is a great first step toward achieving our goal of total access."
With expanded broadband access, Ohio could generate $5.2 billion in economic activity, and create or protect 96,000 jobs throughout the state. This past August, Brown held a first-of-its kind summit, which connected more than 200 potential Ohio broadband providers with the USDA officials responsible for the administration of funds. Each recipient of today's funds attended this workshop.
Below are today's grant recipients.
Recipient County Funding Project
Wabash Mutual Telephone Co Mercer $4,348,829 Provide an optical fiber network in the region that allows digital television and high-speed Internet using fiber optics deployed directly to the premises
Intelliwave Athens, Fairfield, and Pickaway $2,279,596 Provide affordable wireless broadband and VoIP phone service to underserved rural Ohio communities
Benton Ridge Telephone Co Hancock $3,153,066 Provide Fiber-to-the-Home (FTTH) in the Benton Ridge exchange of South Central Ohio, including dedicated fiber optic connections for each customer
Brown led the fight in Congress alongside Sen. Tom Harkin (D-IA) for the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) to include funding to expand broadband access. In August, Brown wrote to United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) Secretary Tom Vilsack and U.S. Commerce Secretary Gary Locke urging their support for Ohio applicants.
The challenges of living in a rural area are often great. The high cost of providing broadband access in less populated areas means that rural dwellers are significantly less likely to have broadband access than their suburban and urban counterparts. This has created a "digital divide," undermining economic development and online educational opportunities in rural communities. A 2006 study by MIT found that communities with wide access to broadband experienced faster job growth and new business development. A later report by the Brookings Institution found that for every one percent of increased broadband access, a state could expect 0.2-0.3 percent growth in employment. The median revenue among broadband-connected businesses in Ohio grew twice as fast as those that do not use broadband, according to a study by Connect Ohio.
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