12/12/17
How this Broadband Bill Could Impact Health Care, Education, Your Job
Nearly a dozen representatives from Ohio universities and economic groups voiced their support for House Bill 378 through written and oral testimony submitted to the Ohio House Finance Committee.
Among those sharing the reasons this bill matters, Connect Ohio’s Executive Director Stuart Johnson (pictured right).
07/19/17
Live Radio with Call-Ins: Underserved Rural Americans
On Thursday June 22, Connect Ohio’s Stu Johnson arrived through the back doors of Idea Stream, WCPN’s NPR news station for The Sound of Ideas public affairs show. Johnson was escorted back to the green room to wait until the show was ready to air. He pulled out his notes, charts, and graphs to prepare for the live show and be ready to answer listener call-in questions. Once in the studio the host adjusted his microphone and headset, and then the show went live.
04/19/17
Building Broadband Above Obstacles in Rural Michigan
Ogemaw County has made it easier for ISPs to extend broadband coverage in the area by going upward. A newly completed vertical assets inventory includes barns, poles, towers, water towers, silos, and other tall structures across 14 townships in Ogemaw County. With this information, ISPs can install broadband infrastructure on tall structures in the area and significantly reduce the investment required.
10/14/14
Getting Rural Michigan on the Broadband Bandwagon
For Michigan residents, it’s a given that broadband availability is a necessity for both economic development and for enhanced quality of life.
06/26/14
Minnesota County Thinks Outside the Box to Provide Rural High-Speed Internet
Many rural Minnesotan businesses see high-speed Internet as less a luxury and more an essential service. For many enterprises in the northland, Internet speeds leave a lot to be desired.
Lake Connections has begun addressing this need in the region. A unique aspect of this company is that it was created by Lake County to provide service to the area. The county owns Lake Connections, which operates as a self-sustaining business.
Below is an excerpt from a Twin Cities Business article on this development:
05/07/14
Minnesotans Exploring Options for Broadband Funding
Rural Minnesotans are in the hunt for funds for improved Internet service as state lawmakers consider legislation for broadband infrastructure funding.
On the federal level, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) is currently considering funding broadband projects that would provide service in unserved or underserved regions of the country
Of the more than 1,000 broadband project ideas, or “expressions of interest,” submitted to the FCC, 62 have come from Minnesota, the most submitted by any state.
03/07/14
Today Deadline for Expressions of Interest in FCC Rural Broadband Experiments program
Today marks the deadline for interested parties to file non-binding expressions of interest in the Rural Broadband Experiments (RBE) program first announced last month by the FCC.
The program, which is spurring widespread interest with already dozens if not hundreds of submissions on the record, seeks funding proposals for projects to connect areas across the country that lack broadband access. The program hopes to incentivize deployment of “scalable” broadband networks in communities without ubiquitous broadband at speeds of at least 3 Mbps down/768 kbps up.
03/04/14
Northwest Minnesota Businesses Are Learning How to Harness Internet Power
In less than two years, a rural Minnesota business developed a customer base in 56 countries. Another business went from selling wholesale to retailers to now filling orders from Alaska to Florida. These businesses are leveraging the power of broadband to grow their enterprises.
02/07/14
President Obama Highlights the Importance of Rural Broadband at Farm Bill Signing
President Obama was in Michigan today to sign the Farm Bill into law. In his speech, at Michigan State University in East Lansing, the President commented on recent initiatives to increase broadband in the nation’s schools.
Below are excerpts from his speech that highlight the importance of broadband:
A lot of what you’re doing here at Michigan State helps to spur on that innovation in all sorts of areas that can then be commercialized into new industries and to create new jobs.
09/30/11
Rural Broadband Works … and could work for Michigan
From Michael Lesich
