Nearly 75% of Appalachian Ohio doesn’t have access to minimum internet speeds

About a third of households in Ohio’s 32 Appalachian counties don’t have access to the Federal Communications Commission’s bare minimum internet speed. “A lot of our areas have no broadband and homes have no cellular service,” said Tom Reid, President of Reid Consulting Group who works with Connecting Appalachia.  “You’re talking about taking an area basically […]

Accountability in Broadband Maps Necessary for BEAD to Achieve Mission

With millions of American households stranded in the digital desert, we need to achieve accountability in broadband to make sure the Broadband Equity, Access and Deployment funding achieves its mission. The broadband gaps can be readily identified despite the air of mystery surrounding the topic.

The sheer magnitude of the overstatements in the FCC’s map makes the challenge process untenable.

$85 million needed to bring broadband to everyone in Tuscarawas County

A new study financed by the Ohio Mid-Eastern Governments Association (OMEGA) estimates it would cost nearly $85 million to bring adequate broadband access to underserved areas of Tuscarawas County. The study, conducted by the Reid Consulting Group, found that 30% of households in the county do not have access to FCC minimum internet speeds. The findings […]

Coshocton broadband project launches with Millcreek tower

In Coshocton County, more than half the population found themselves without adequate internet access for a myriad of Zoom meetings and online coursework. Especially if multiple people were on the same home signal at once.  Coshocton County Commissioners said they could put nearly $7.2 million in pledged American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) funding into a variety […]

Governor DeWine, Lt. Governor Husted Announce New Broadband Expansion Projects

the Broadband Expansion Authority authorized BroadbandOhio to award more than $232 million in grants to 11 internet service providers as part of the Ohio Residential Broadband Expansion Grant Program. The funding will be used to cover the “broadband funding gap” associated with 33 broadband expansion projects impacting 31 counties. Over $130 million in grant projects (56% of the allocated funds) were awarded to Reid Consulting Group Clients.

New maps show local broadband deficit

Broadband speeds are measured in megabits. A bit is a tiny unit of data, and a megabit represents 1 million bits. The higher the number of megabits per second, the faster online activity should be. The Seneca and Wyandot data is from a new mapping resource tool Broadband Ohio released Tuesday on its website, broadband.ohio.gov. […]

Broadband speed maps show slower internet in Lima region

Ohio Lt. Gov. Jon Husted today recently announced that BroadbandOhio published a new mapping resource tool on Broadband.Ohio.gov that more accurately shows how many of the state’s households are connected to high-speed internet, providing a clearer, more detailed picture of Ohio’s broadband availability gaps. A statewide map along with profiles on each of the 88 […]