Tag: broadband

Changes the Ohio Senate made to its version of the state’s next budget bill could set back the state’s work on broadband expansion, and threaten existing municipal networks.

Ohio Lt. Gov. Jon Husted recently announced a telehealth project that will serve nearly 20,000 students in 15 school districts, across six rural counties.

The Senate unanimously passed a bill to create Ohio’s first ever statewide broadband grant program April 28. House Bill 2 is a reintroduction of House Bill 13, which lost momentum and never came up for a final vote in 2020 after receiving support from legislators, rural groups and more.

The $2 trillion American Jobs Plan throws big money at broadband, energy infrastructure improvements, workforce development and clean energy research. Environmental groups lauded the plan, while the oil and gas industry felt left out in the cold.

Broadband advocates and Pennsylvania legislators aren’t thrilled about Gov. Tom Wolf’s proposed budget, introduced Feb. 2 — mainly because it's hard to tell how much funding will go to broadband.

Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine unveiled a new proposal for the next executive budget for the state Feb. 1, including a $1 billion Investing in Ohio Initiative aimed at helping Ohio’s economy recover from the impact of the pandemic, and investments in H2Ohio, broadband, nutrition and food access and farmland preservation.

After receiving support from various legislators, rural groups and others, a bill that would have created a statewide broadband grant program in Ohio lost momentum at the end of 2020. House Bill 13 passed the Ohio House in June of 2020 and went through three hearings in a Senate committee. But as the legislature neared the end of the 133rd General Assembly, it never came up for a vote in the Senate. It never even made it out of the committee.

A recent study from The Center for Rural Pennsylvania confirmed what many have been saying: rural Pennsylvanians are often getting slower internet speeds at higher prices than urban Pennsylvanians. But it also suggested that rural residents are more willing to pay for broadband than urban residents.

Frustrated with limited to no access and a pandemic that sent many people online, residents in Washington County, Ohio, are forming a broadband cooperative.

Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Wolf signed into law a slight rule change that will make it easier for rural communities to expand broadband access.