Connect Ohio Receives National Recognition on Capitol Hill

April 22, 2010

Listen: Rep. Zachary T. Space, D-Ohio on Connect Ohio

Connect Ohio’s efforts to increase broadband service and adoption within the state of Ohio has been recognized at a national level.

On Wednesday, a hearing of the Subcommittee on Communications, Technology, and the Internet was held on Capitol Hill. The hearing examined assessments in the National Broadband Plan of the availability of broadband and how most effectively to deploy broadband to areas that are unserved and underserved, so all Americans can benefit from good-quality broadband services.

During the hearing, Connect Ohio’s work was praised as a successful representation of a broadband deployment and adoption organization in the United States.

Representative Zachary T. Space, D-Ohio, said he had a lot of faith in the work being done at Connect Ohio and had a map of Ohio’s broadband coverage as proof. The broadband coverage map that Representative Space referred to is a map that details the statewide unserved households by Census Block.

With the assistance of broadband providers, Connect Ohio updates these maps as needed to reflect the current broadband infrastructure.

Connect Ohio began in 2007 to help expand access to and use of broadband in Ohio. According to Connect Ohio’s June 2009 Technology Assessment, 95 percent of Ohio households have available broadband service. This figure is up from 92 percent the previous year.

To view the map and/or any additional maps that Connect Ohio has developed, click here.

To listen to the full hearing, download or stream the audio here.