Rural Ohio broadband project gets $570k

Crystal Broadband Networks, Inc. today received a $570,800 grant from the US Department of Agriculture for a broadband project in Stafford Village. The grant is part of the Community Connect program, which provides grants to rural, economically challenged communities.

More than $100 million in Community Connect funding was announced today.

"Without broadband, rural communities, agricultural producers, and business owners face a substantial challenge," Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack said in a news release. "These loans and grants will bring the benefits of broadband, including new educational, business, and public health and safety opportunities, to residents living in some of the most remote parts of our Nation."

Funds can be used to construct, acquire, or lease facilities to deploy broadband to community facilities such as schools and public safety buildings, as well as residents and businesses in the community, according to the USDA. Each project requires a matching contribution and must serve an area where broadband is not available. The grantee must agree to provide local community centers in the selected towns with at least 10 computers, which are accessible free for two years.

For more about the awards, see the release here.

USDA Administrator Jonathan Adelstein Visits Central Ohio, Discusses Broadband Programs in Rural Communities

On Tuesday, July 19, United States Department of Agriculture Rural Utilities Service Administrator Jonathan Adelstein visited central Ohio to give an update on broadband expansion projects in rural communities nationally, as well as to discuss Consolidated Electric Cooperative’s progress on local fiber installation and broadband expansion in Delaware, Morrow, and parts of other surrounding counties. Consolidated Electric was awarded a Rural Utilities Service grant of more than $1 million and a Rural Utilities Service loan of about $1.4 million to aid their expansion project, which is about 60% completed, thus far, and expected to be 100% complete by the end of the year. The USDA’s support for telecommunications projects improving broadband service to rural residents and businesses is vital to economic development in these areas.

“Broadband was the first pillar of (Secretary of Agriculture) Tom Vilsack’s agenda,” said Adelstein during today's presentation. “Like the rural electrification program of the 1930’s, this broadband project will result in economic development for many years to come.”

Connect Ohio recognizes broadband as a key component of rural development. The recent release of Connect Ohio’s 2011 Residential Technology Assessment and 2010 Business Technology Assessment illustrates the challenges and opportunities that exist in Ohio’s rural community development. Below are some key technology benchmarks from Connect Ohio’s recent assessment.

	Broadband Adoption			Internet Use			Own Computer
	2008	2011		2008	2011		2008	2011
Delaware County	73%	87%		90%	95%		90%	92%
Franklin County	67%	72%		85%	93%		82%	81%
Knox County	42%	71%		72%	84%		72%	81%
Morrow County	41%	73%		82%	88%		75%	86%
State Average	55%	66%		79%	82%		76%	80%

• More than 88,000 businesses in Ohio do not use broadband.
• Businesses without broadband have annual revenue of $200,000 less than businesses with broadband.
• Manufacturing and Professional and Financial Services sectors lead in broadband adoption in Ohio.
• Only 53% of businesses in the Healthcare sector use broadband (about 13,000 healthcare-related businesses).

Also in attendance at today’s event with Administrator Adelstein at Consolidated Electric’s Delaware office were USDA Rural Development Ohio office staff, including J. Anthony Logan, director, David Douglas, community program director, Mark Elam, RUS field accountant, Consolidated Electric Cooperative staff, including Jerry Lauer, President/CEO, and Doug Payauys, CIO, Bart Winegar, Connect Ohio technical outreach manager, and area county officials.

Additional Broadband and business data from Connect Ohio’s 2010 Business Technology Assessment can be viewed at http://connectohio.org/mapping_and_research/.


The complete 2011 Residential Technology Assessment can be viewed at http://connectohio.org/mapping_and_research/residential_and_business_technology_assessments.php.


Specific county-level research can be viewed by visiting http://connectohio.org/mapping_and_research/county_profiles/. Click on the county of interest’s profile page, and then click on the county’s technology profile.


Learn more about Consolidated’s expansion project by visiting http://www.consolidatedelectric.coop/aboutus/news_pages/grant.asp.


Learn more about the USDA Rural Development Rural Utilities Service by visiting http://www.rurdev.usda.gov/Utilities_LP.html.

Rural Utilities Service Announces $25M Funding Availability

The Rural Utilities Service (RUS), an agency of the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA), recently announced the availability of $25 million in funding for Fiscal Year 2011 for its Community Connect Broadband Grant program.

The Community Connect program specifically seeks to improve broadband service in rural communities to improve quality of life. The awarded funds can be used to build broadband infrastructure, as well as to provide free public access to broadband by creating a community center. Areas eligible for the grants are communities without broadband which are located outside cities with a population of 20,000 or more. Grants are available to private, non-profit, and government organizations.

The deadline to submit applications for the Community Connect Broadband Grant program is May 3, 2011. For more information on this program, visit http://www.rurdev.usda.gov/utp_commconnect.html.

The most recent Ohio awardees of the Community Connect grant were GMNTri-County CAC, Inc. and Chillicothe Telephone Company in 2007. GMNTri-County CAC received $316,840 to deploy wireless broadband in Monroe County, as well as equip the Graysville Volunteer Fire Department and Bethel Ambulance Service with free Wi-Fi access. Chillicothe Telephone Company was awarded $603,200 to deploy a fiber-to-the-home system in Pickaway County, as well as to provide a new computer lab with free Internet access to those unable to afford computers or home broadband service.