Ohio Valley Politics

Congressman Zack Space’s website has posted results (PDF) from the Renew Ohio broadband work group held a few weeks ago. They seem to indicate which benefits of high speed internet participants believed would have the biggest positive impact on the region.

Among the highest ranked benefits are:

• an increase in educational oppertunities
• it may attract or retain businesses
• improvements to healthcare by enabling things like home health monitoring and access to electronic health records

I’ve attempted to embed the full results after the break.

Space was also talking about rural broadband with the Newark Advocate recently:

Space said one of his greatest achievements in the 15 months he has served as a Congressman has been the introduction of legislation regarding technology, specifically improving high-speed Internet accessibility in the area, he said.

“I think, in the long term, (Internet access) makes us a much more attractive place to do business,” he said. “What business is going to locate to a place that doesn’t have high-speed Internet?”

Additionally, he said, several significant aspects of the educational and medical fields have become reliant on Internet technology.

Tapping into that resource is a way to increase business and improve quality of life, he said.
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It’s been a long time coming, but the FCC has finally (and unanimously) voted for several key changes to the way we collect information on broadband internet coverage.

Among the changes made:

• Raising the FCC’s definition of “high speed” Internet from a sluggish 200 Kbps to 768 Kbps.
• Requiring the reporting of both download and upload speeds.
• Creating more refined tiers of Internet speeds, as opposed to the current use of broad categories that often misrepresent people’s actual speeds.
• Requiring service providers to report more detailed connection speed data at the census-block level, instead of the zip code level.

I heard each of these concerns mentioned last year at Rep. Zack Space’s “Connect Appalachia” summits and it’s really great to see that these concerns have finally been addressed. With the information gathered under these new reporting standards we’ll be able to more accurately assess the state of broadband internet in the country and act accordingly.

On a side note, I’ve recently traded in my dial-up connection for a much faster satellite option. After using it for about a week I’ve only affirmed my belief that satellite internet should not be viewed as a long term solution for rural broadband in it’s current form. But that’s a whole other post.

Now I’ve got a small favor to ask of everyone. Below is a small box that will test you’re internet connection and send the results back to SpeedMatters.org, an organization pushing for national broadband. Every year they take this data and put together a very informative report on the spread of broadband for each state, including a map showing average connection speed in each area. Please consider taking it.

The Times-Reporter has a write up on yesterdays Renew Ohio Broadband summit.

More than 100 people attended the Broadband and Technology Working Group session hosted by U.S. Rep. Zack Space, D-Dover.

Friday’s session lasted from 9:30 to noon at Tuscarawas Campus of Kent State University at New Philadelphia.

“It was a great day,” Space said of the first group session of his RENEW Ohio-18 program.

“As with the kickoff breakfast, we continue to be impressed with the turnout, quality and participation involved,” he said.

I regret that I wasn’t able to attend, but at least they had a good turn out.

For the last few weeks I’ve been wondering what Zack Space would be doing to follow up on last years “Connect Appalachia” summits. Would  there be another summit? It turns out the answer is a little complicated.

Early this morning it was announced that there would be an entire series of summits on a variety of topics, including one on rural broadband. The series, titled Renew Ohio 18, will also hold summits on healthcare, agriculture, and alternative energy. Two additional meeting will be held in Zanesville to both start things off and wrap things up.

“As we all know, Ohio has been devastated by the loss of many jobs in recent years.A large number of the lost jobs have been in the manufacturing sector, where unfair trade deals have debilitated our region and our state.  I strongly believe that we must prepare ourselves to capitalize on opportunities for new industries and jobs.”

“I believe strongly that the time has come to undertake this endeavor.  No issue deserves our attention more than preparing ourselves to attract new businesses with the jobs that our residents so greatly deserve.”

– Rep. Zack Space

The full summit schedule can be found below. These events are open to the public, but I don’t have addresses or times for any of them. 

• January 25: RENEW OH-18 Ohio Kickoff, Zanesville, OH
• February 29: RENEW OH-18 Broadband Working Group Meeting, New Philadelphia, OH
• March 21: RENEW OH-18 Agriculture Working Group Meeting, Coshocton, OH
• April 11: RENEW OH-18 Alternative Energy Working Group Meeting, Nelsonville, OH
• April 25: RENEW OH-18 Healthcare Working Group Meeting, Chillicothe, OH
• May 23: RENEW OH-18 Summit, Zanesville, OH

Rep. Zack Space’s efforts to spread broadband internet apparently haven’t passed unnoticed in Columbus.  He’s been appointed to the Ohio Broadband Council by Governor Strickland.

“I am honored that Governor Strickland has invited me to join on this Council. We have made some great progress in Southeastern Ohio toward bringing broadband to everyone, and I am sure I can bring my experiences to the statewide effort.

“Governor Strickland knows as well as I do that the future of Ohio’s economy depends on our ability to compete in the modern, high-tech economy.  If we do not have this infrastructure in place, there is no question that we will be left behind.  Every day we do not have broadband is another day that companies will bypass the Ohio when looking to relocate.”

“Simply put, our economic future depends on the availability of broadband access.”

– Rep. Zack Space

This also marks the first time Strickland has asked a sitting Congressman to join a gubernatorial council.

The Ohio Broadband Council was created by Gov. Strickland earlier this year to:

A big part of the reason I follow Zack Space so much is because I consider him to be my second representative. The 18th and 6th districts share many of the same problems, thus when an 18th district problem is solved the 6th district also benefits (and vice versa).

One of these mutual problems that Space has been working to resolve is the lack of broadband Internet in Southeastern Ohio. Along this line Space co-sponsored a bill that passed in the House yesterday calling for detailed broadband coverage maps to be made each year. It also provides $275 million in broadband development grants over the next three years.

“Southeastern Ohio is going to find it harder and harder to attract new businesses if we lack the basic infrastructure that a modern company needs to conduct business. Every day that goes by without proper broadband access is another lost opportunity.”

“The economic future of our region relies upon our ability to offer the tools that companies need.  This legislation will go a long way in ensuring we catch up with the rest of the nation in the deployment of this vital infrastructure.”

– Rep. Zack Space

Like Space, I think this is a great first step at solving one of the most critical issues facing rural development.