Connecting the disconnected: Ohio groups coordinate to bring the Internet to rural Appalachia

Although millions of Americans take for granted their ability to access the Internet from anywhere they are, and access it at incredibly fast speeds for very reasonable pricing, that is not the case for rural Ohioans. According to a report from the nonprofit group Connect Ohio’s Technology Barriers and Adoption in Rural Appalachian, there are 531,000 adults in rural Appalachia who do not have broadband access in their homes. In spite of schools assigning homework and projects that require their students use the Internet to complete them, one in three rural Appalachian Ohio children do not have broadband service at home, and one in three Appalachian area households do not have a home computer.

In response, Connect Ohio is administering the new Connect Appalachia Broadband Task Force, co-chaired by the Governor’s Office of Appalachia and Chesapeake Energy. Co-chair duties for the task force are shared by Jason Wilson, Governor’s Office on Appalachia director, Keith Fuller, Chesapeake Energy’s director of corporate development, and Stu Johnson, Connect Ohio’s executive director.

“Chesapeake is a community staple to the Appalachia region and has a high demand on all levels of infrastructure, including broadband,” noted Johnson. “They are a large user of technology throughout the region and will be a great help in enlisting the support of other large users, allowing the task force to reach their ultimate goal of improving availability and adoption in rural Appalachian Ohio.”

The task force held their inaugural meeting Jan. 19, with the purpose of being “committed to help the region overcome connectivity barriers and digital literacy gaps.”

Representatives of public agencies, regulatory groups, community leaders, education, finance, nonprofits, and Internet service providers are part of the task force. Their goal is lofty: to bring Appalachian Ohio in line with state and national standards for broadband access in just 24 months. It is a goal they are committed to meeting. They also will be identifying and coordinating resources throughout the state, keeping in mind the need for broadband to be affordable as well as accessible, and to develop ways to provide necessary connection equipment and free basic computer training to Ohio residents. Ken Engstrom, a Sugarcreek resident, is co-chair of the providers committee in his role as fiber sales manager for private provider Horizon Telecom. Engstrom is well aware of the difficulties rural Ohioans face with limited to no broadband access.

“I was fortunate to be asked to serve and chair the providers committee, and since I have a personal and professional interest in this issue going back a number of years, I could not say no,” said Engstrom. “Residents and small businesses that do not need a lot of bandwidth are the folks that will benefit from the efforts of the Connect Ohio committee’s ‘last mile’ efforts.”

According to Amanda Murphy, public relations specialist with Connect Ohio, “there are three main barriers to broadband use in Appalachian Ohio: nearly half of Ohioans in rural Appalachia (47 percent) who do not subscribe to service say they do not need broadband at home, one out of three households in the region that do not have broadband say it is because they do not own a computer, and nearly one in four adults in the region say they do not subscribe to broadband because it is not available where they live or not available at fast enough speeds to be worthwhile to them.

“Having access to the Internet opens a world of possibilities, conveniences, and can improve overall quality of life,” added Murphy, as she emphasized the reason for the efforts of the task force on behalf of Ohioans.

“Five hundred thirty one thousand adults do not have the opportunity to save time and money by taking college courses online, banking online, and shopping online, have the opportunity to telework/work from home, have the opportunity for additional income through online businesses, have immediate access to government websites, social security benefit information, BMV, IRS/tax information, and more.”