ecommunity strategies march 2010
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Ohio Projects Receive Stimulus Funding, Webinar Highlights Provider Opportunities, New Tool to Locate Broadband ProvidersTRANSCRIPT
Online Patron Survey Data Bolsters Important Role Of Ohio’s Public Libraries
March 2010
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Bart Winegar, Connect Ohio’s state operations manager for southeast Ohio, presents a new notebook computer to Theresa Hogue, a Muskingum County resident. Theresa and her family were one of six winners statewide in a drawing co-sponsored by the Ohio Farm Bureau Federation, a Connect Ohio partner. Thanks to CenturyLink for its generous donation of a new notebook computer to three contest winners in its service area. CenturyLink continues to add broadband reach and capacity to its network across Ohio.
Sixty-two percent of the patrons who use Internet-con-nected computers at Ohio’s public libraries do not have high-speed access at home, reveals a new Connect Ohio survey. Almost 30 percent of respondents come to their local Ohio public library specifically to use a computer and nearly half that don’t subscribe to broadband state that if the service is available, it is too expensive.
“This survey demonstrates the important role that Ohio’s public libraries play for thousands of Ohioans who can’t afford high-speed Internet service or don’t yet have it
CONTENTS
Ohio Projects Receive Stimulus Funding .................. 2
Webinar Highlights Provider Opportunities................3
Executive Director’s Message .................................. 4
New Tool To Locate Broadband Providers .............. 4
Jeff Beebe State Operations ManagerNortheast [email protected]
Don ShirleyState Operations ManagerSouthwest Ohiodshirley@connectohio org513-668-2222
Heather DelanyState Operations ManagerNorthwest [email protected]
Bart WinegarState Operations ManagerSoutheast [email protected]
Connect Ohio’sState Operations Managers
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Ohio Projects Receive First-Round Stimulus FundingSeveral Ohio communities received good news this month concerning applications that were submitted last August for federal broadband stimulus funding to provide improved availability of high-speed Internet service and encourage new sustainable broadband subscribers.
“We are grateful to the Obama administration for their commitment to broadband expansion across the coun-try. These projects will give our rural communities more resources to link people to businesses, educational opportunities, and each other,” said Ohio Governor Ted Strickland in a news release praising the awards.
“As our economy becomes more and more technological-ly-driven, it is important that we keep our rural communi-ties connected. Broadband is a necessary investment for helping rural economies grow and attracting businesses and jobs to these areas,” he said.
Congress provided USDA $2.5 billion in Recovery Act funding to assist applicants to bring broadband services to rural unserved and underserved communities. To date, $895.6 million has been provided to support 55 broad-band projects in 29 states or territories. USDA recently selected three Ohio projects:
Benton Ridge Telephone Co.The Broadband Expansion Project - Benton Ridge; $1,611,124 loan and $1,547,942 grant. The funding will provide Fiber-to-the-Home (FTTH) to 480 homes in the Benton Ridge exchange in Hancock County, including dedicated fiber optic connections for each customer.
IntelliwaveThe Athens, Fairfield, and Pickaway County Ohio Ru-ral Broadband Initiative Project; $1,162,599 loan and $1,116,997 grant. The funding will provide affordable wireless broadband and VoIP phone service to under-served rural Ohio communities in Athens, Fairfield, and Pickaway counties.
Wabash Mutual Telephone Co.Fort Recovery Area FTTH Project; $2,201,042 loan and $2,174,787 grant. The funding will provide an optical fiber network in the region that allows digital television and high-speed Internet using fiber optics deployed directly to the premises.
The U.S. Commerce Department’s National Telecom-muncations and Information Administration was allocated $4.7 billion in ARRA stimulus funding to award through its Broadband Technologies Opportunities Program (BTOP). One Ohio organization has been awarded funds so far in the first round of BTOP grants.
OneCommunityOhio nonprofit OneCommunity was awarded $11.7 mil-lion in Recovery Act resources through the U.S. Depart-ment of Commerce’s National Telecommunications and Information Administration’s Broadband Technology Opportunities Program to expand broadband adoption by more than 14,000 disconnected Ohioans in Cleveland, Akron, and several Appalachian counties. “Connect Your Community” will create 58 direct new jobs in Ohio. An additional $6.8 million in ARRA resources for the program will also fa-cilitate projects in Florida, Michigan, Mississippi, and Kentucky. OneCommunity and its partners in Akron, Cleveland, and Zanesville will lead the implementation of “Connect Your Community” in Ohio.
ClevelandThe Cleveland Housing Network will work with Cuyahoga Community College, the Famicos Foundation, Ashbury Senior Computer Community Center, Fairfax Renais-sance Development Corporation, and Esperanza Inc.
These agencies will plan and implement the deployment of 18 Connected Community Corps members as well as significant investment in new training center capacity and capabilities to directly assist more than 5,000 neighbor-hood residents. OneCommunity will provide free wireless Internet access for a large share of these new broadband adopters.
AkronThe Akron Urban League will serve as an outreach and education center and is a partner with the city of Akron and OneCommunity for wireless and community broad-band efforts.
Appalachian OhioZanesville-based ACCEL will lead the effort in Appala-chian Ohio. ACCEL covers a broad area with outreach, training and connection assistance efforts including Muskingum County, Coshocton County, and at least eight other counties.
For more information about the projects, visit www.broad-bandusa.gov.
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For More InformationIf you would like more detailed information about growth opportunities for Ohio broadband providers, visit Connect Ohio’s broadband providers new busi-ness opportunities page by clicking here.
If you have additional questions, please contact us by sending an e-mail to: [email protected] or calling us toll-free at 1-866-881-9424.
Thanks to every Ohio broadband provider for their continued efforts to help connect the more than 200,000 Ohio households that still do not have ac-cess to the benefits of high-speed Internet at their home address.
Online Public Library Patron Survey Results Continued from page 1
available in their homes,” said Douglas S. Evans, execu-tive director of the Ohio Library Council, the statewide professional association which represents the interests of Ohio’s public libraries as well as their trustees, friends, and staffs.
Connect Ohio recently conducted the survey to help support a statewide application for federal broadband stimulus funding on behalf of hundreds of Ohio libraries.
Connect Ohio partnered with the State Library of Ohio, the Ohio Public Library Information Network, and the member public libraries of the Ohio Library Council to conduct the online survey, which collected information from 6,977 Ohio public library patrons. The State Library of Ohio is a state agency that serves state government and all types of libraries.
To encourage patrons to complete the survey, adult participants were also eligible to enter a drawing to win a netbook computer.
“Ohio’s public libraries are providing a vital service to Ohio citizens on the wrong side of the digital divide,” said OPLIN’s Director Stephen Hedges. “Many Ohio companies now accept job applications only through an online process and most Ohio students need access to a
high-speed Internet connection outside of school hours to complete homework assignments,” he said.
OPLIN’s primary mission is to ensure that all Ohio resi-dents have fast, free public Internet access through the 251 independent local public library systems in Ohio, as well as the use of high-quality research databases not freely available on the World Wide Web. According to a 2008 OPLIN survey, there were 11,145 patron PCs avail-able in Ohio public libraries. The current number of patron computers available is 11,511. Connect Ohio’s research indicates that as many as 25,000 may be needed to intro-duce broadband to Ohio’s non-adoptors.
“This study will help Ohio libraries in assisting residents of more than 200,000 Ohio households that still don’t have access to the benefits of high-speed Internet service at home,” said Tom Fritz, Connect Ohio’s executive director. “Public libraries provide an invaluable service in the areas of education and economic development for their commu-nities,” he said.
To view the complete results of the survey, visit Connect Ohio’s website at www.connectohio.org/. If you don’t have access to broadband, please contact us by phone at 866-881-9424 and we will send you a copy via U.S. mail.
Webinar Highlights Broadband Provider OpportunitiesOn February 12, Connect Ohio hosted an online webinar for Ohio providers of high-speed Internet service to high-light growth opportunities in each of Ohio’s 88 counties.
Katrina Flory, executive director of the Ohio Broadband Council, welcomed attendees.
Connect Ohio’s Executive Director Tom Fritz presented a brief overview, which was followed by regional pre-sentations by each of Connect Ohio’s State Operations Managers.
Of Connect Ohio’s four operating regions, southeast Ohio has the highest number of households that do not have access to broadband with nearly 89,000 of Ohio’s 205,000 unserved households. State Operations Man-ager Bart Winegar explained that the households in the 22-county region translates into 41,553 potential new subscribers with an estimated “take rate” of 42.3 percent.
Winegar said that high-speed service is currently avail-able to 78 percent of the 399,690 households in the re-gion, with an average cost of service of $35.68 monthly.Revenue projections, take rates, and community priority
areas were also highlighted on a local level. A description of Ohio’s updated broadband mapping process was also reviewed.
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Preparing an application for federal funding is not an easy task, according to many individuals who have been through the process.
Successful applications for federal funding take months to prepare and require the involvement of many individuals by the organization(s) applying for federal grants or loans.
Connect Ohio has been working with several state and community organizations over the past few months to help prepare two statewide applications for broadband stimulus funding that, if awarded, would benefit millions of Ohioans who do not currently subscribe to high-speed Internet service.
Ohio Public Access and Adoption through Libraries is composed of two applications that would complement each other to provide the necessary equipment, training, technical support, and public awareness components for a two-year program designed to utilize Ohio’s public libraries to educate new computer users and help them become long-term subscribers of high-speed Internet service.
The State Library of Ohio would aggregate the equipment for hundreds of public library locations across the state and would also provide the necessary curriculum, while Connect Ohio would provide for the local delivery of the classes.
Connect Ohio would also provide the public awareness component of the project, helping Ohioans that may be intimidated by technology in general or just don’t understand how high-speed Internet service at home could positively impact their day-to-day lives.
I’d like to thank the hundreds of individuals at many of Connect Ohio’s partner organizations who have contributed hundreds of hours in this effort. We look forward to the possibility of working with all of the partner organizations if our joint efforts are rewarded with a grant later this year.
New Tool To Locate Broadband ProvidersOhio consumers can now use Connect Ohio’s new interactive Broadband Inventory Map to quickly and easily locate probable providers of high-speed Internet service for their home addresses. Here’s how it works:
1) Consumers visit Connect Ohio’s Interactive Map page and click on the map graphic.
2) They then find and click on the blue “locate” pushpin graphic in the mapping tools box on the left-hand side. A locate box will appear on the right-hand side, where they enter street address information (no P.O. boxes) and click on the “locate” button below. (A consumer’s personal information is considered confidential and will not be sold, traded, or otherwise transferred to outside parties for marketing, advertising, or other similar purposes).
3) If available, a list of probable broadband providers will appear in the locate box. Consumers can click on the yellow arrows on the right-hand side to be directed to a provider’s website.
Note: The data used to create the current version of the map is based on information provided by more than 70 participating Ohio broadband providers as of December 4, 2009 and Connect Ohio’s 2008 Residential Technology Assessment. As part of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, this map will be periodically updated in compliance with the State Broadband Data and Development grant program with data from additional participating providers.
Ohio Public Access and Adoption through Libraries
232 N THIRD STREET, SUITE 201 l COLUMBUS, OH 43215 (614) 220-0190 l TOLL FREE: (866) 881-9424
WWW.CONNECTOHIO.ORG
Tom FritzExecutive Director