Regional Economics
Connecting the Dots of Ohio Broadband Policy
The internet continues to link itself to nearly every aspect of our daily lives: business, news, entertainment, communication, shopping, and education, just to name a few. The incredible benefits offered by information technologies have led individuals, businesses, and public institutions to become more reliant on the internet. As this transformation in how we communicate and do business has occurred, access to reliable internet has become a necessity for individuals and businesses.Great progress has been made to achieve near universal access to broadband internet. Ninety percent of the US population and 92 percent of Ohioans already have access to internet services that meet the Federal Communications Commission’s (FCC) minimum broadband speeds of 25 Mbps download/3 Mbps upload. Yet, more than 1 million Ohioans still lack the access to fast, reliable broadband services in their homes. This un-served population largely lives in less populated rural regions of the state where it is prohibitively expensive for internet service providers to extend service. Access Connecting the Dots of Ohio Broadband Policy report.
