Rural Ohio county hosts high speed workshop

Ohio continues to make progress toward getting rural residents connected to high speed Internet.

Last week, a "community benchmark workshop" was held in rural Coshocton County, bringing together representatives from a wide variety of industries to examine the current state of high speed Internet for their businesses and to brainstorm future possibilities this technology holds for them. Included were representatives from agriculture, government, health care, education, and many more fields.

The workshop was part of Connect Ohio, an initiative launched last year by Gov. Ted Strickland to expand access to high speed Internet across the state. As the program's Southeast Region Field Director Gary Lambert said of the Coshocton forum,

The workshop is to see where we are today and where we want to be in two years...The first step is collecting data and then ending up with a strategic plan of where the gaps are and how to fill them.

This is just the latest example of Ohio's leaders taking important steps toward a fully connected future. Previously, Gov. Strickland had named CWA Local 4321 President Frank Mathews to the Ohio Broadband Council. Also, U.S. Rep Zack Space of Dover has been a strong advocate for expanded high speed access, and earlier this year U.S. Sen. Sherrod Brown had visited Coshocton County to listen to residents talk about their need for this technology.

These efforts will continue in Coshocton at a future meeting in which the same representatives will combine their ideas with surveys, maps, and other data to create a cohesive statement on the need for high speed Internet in their county.

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Gov. Strickland kicks off Connect Ohio (Speed Matters)

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Ohioans to Sen. Sherrod Brown: More high speed Internet please (Speed Matters)