Milestone National Broadband Map Features Connect Ohio Contribution

For Immediate Release
February 17, 2011

Media Contact: Amanda Murphy
amurphy@connectohio.org
614.220.0190

Map is significant milestone in charting America’s broadband deployment

Columbus – Today the U.S. Department of Commerce’s National Telecommunications & Information Administration (NTIA) has launched the National Broadband Map, which marks an important milestone in building the nation’s broadband infrastructure. The product of an intensive and joint effort of the NTIA, FCC, state governments, industry, and non-profits like Connect Ohio, the map will be a key tool for the American public and policymakers.

“Broadband has become an essential component to success in business, education, and economic development,” said Tom Fritz, executive director of Connect Ohio. “Today’s launch of the National Broadband Map is a milestone that will help broadband service providers make wise investments and identify the areas more clearly where the digital divide exists. We’re proud of the role Connect Ohio and our partners across the state have played in creating a tool that can make a real difference in both economic development and the daily lives of so many citizens.”

Connect Ohio, a non-profit, public-private partnership, has played an instrumental role in developing, gathering data, and verifying data for the National Broadband Map. As the broadband mapping agent for Ohio, Connect Ohio has contributed the data of more than 104 broadband service providers and 22,805 community anchor institutions to NTIA.

“Citizens across Ohio and the country rely on fast Internet connectivity for high-quality access to healthcare, government services, and information,” continued Fritz.

For example, Connect Ohio surveys have shown that:

• As of 2010, more than 66% of Ohioans subscribed to broadband service, in line with the national average.
• In Ohio, 73% of Internet-connected businesses rely on the Internet for their work.

· The median revenue of Ohio businesses that use broadband grows twice as fast as businesses without broadband.

· Nearly one-quarter of Ohio businesses allow their employees to telework.

• 88% of Ohio residents access the Internet either from home or from some other place.
• Two out of three Ohio Internet users (66%) search for health or medical information online and 29% interact with doctors or healthcare professionals online.

The National Broadband Map also offers several tools for analyzing broadband availability by broadband speed and technology. These tools will be critical to important policy debates. For example, last week, the Federal Communications Commission proposed to redirect up to $1 billion in current federal universal service subsidies to areas the map marks as unserved. Similarly, state and local broadband policymakers will use the map to inform government infrastructure initiatives, planning projects, and adoption programs.

This collaborative and largely state-driven approach to broadband mapping has succeeded in boosting broadband availability and adoption. Connected Nation, the parent-company of Connect Ohio, pioneered this approach beginning in 2001 in Kentucky, and later in Ohio and Tennessee. During the span of these Connected Nation programs, broadband availability in Tennessee jumped from 87% in 2007 to 94% in 2010, while availability in Ohio climbed from 93% in 2008 to 98% in 2010. These achievements led to Congress passing the Broadband Data Improvement Act of 2008, which established similar programs for states and public-private partnerships to gather broadband availability information, verify it, and release it to the public. Funded by the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009, this program is today administered by the NTIA as the State Broadband Data Development Program.

Updates will continue to be made to the Connect Ohio maps over the next four years. Citizens are encouraged to visit the map and offer feedback to ensure the highest level of accuracy.

View the map: http://broadbandmap.gov/

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About Connect Ohio: Connect Ohio, a division of Connected Nation, is a nonprofit, technology-neutral public-private partnership that works with telecommunications providers, business and community leaders, information technology companies, researchers, public agencies, libraries and universities in an effort to help extend affordable high-speed Internet service to every Ohio household. For more information about what Connect Ohio is doing to accelerate technology in Ohio's communities, visit http://www.connectohio.org

About Connected Nation: Connected Nation is the broadband mapping agent in twelve states and territories under the NTIA’s State Broadband Data and Development grant program. This work comprises approximately 42 percent of the country’s landmass and encompasses approximately 39.5 million households. Connected Nation is a national nonprofit 501(c)(3) organization that expands access to and use of broadband Internet and related technologies. Connected Nation effectively raises the awareness of the value of broadband and related technologies by developing coalitions for improving technology availability and use. Connected Nation works with consumers, community leaders, states, technology providers and foundations, including the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, to develop and implement technology expansion programs. Connected Nation’s mission is to improve digital inclusion for people and places previously underserved or overlooked. www.connectednation.org.