Connect Ohio Helps to Expand Internet Access to Small Business in Belmont County

Contact: Amanda Murphy 

amurphy@connectohio.org 

614-220-0190 

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE 

November 10, 2011 

Belmont County small business finds great success with GMN Wireless broadband 

Columbus, Ohio – Connect Ohio helped to extend GMN Wireless broadband access in Belmont County, which in turn, helped local business like, Anvils and Ink Studios, in Somerton, thrive.

Gaining access to high-speed Internet access can be a real game changer for small business. This situation is true for Jerry Smith, owner of Anvils and Ink Studios in Belmont County, where he hand crafts fine art and jewelry, metal sculptures, leather goods, and other custom pieces.

“Shortly before Smith became a customer of GMN, Connect Ohio worked in training GMN Wireless on how to use radio propagation software and how to create their own coverage maps,” said Bart Winegar, technical outreach manager for Connect Ohio. “This helped them to increase efficiency and to serve some customers who otherwise may have been deemed unreachable.”

Smith was able to benefit from using broadband by increasing his sales after he decided to upgrade to a high-speed connection. Before having a broadband connection, Smith was selling around $150,000 in products each year. After taking his business online, Smith now sells more than $3 million in products each year.

Internet access has connected Smith to clients he would have never been able to reach before. Smith places orders internationally and now has clients in India and Pakistan. Not only has being online increased local clientele, but also gained Smith some new clients globally.

“Finding new markets, which used to take weeks or months, now only takes moments,” said Smith. “I can easily research what people are wanting.”

The Internet has allowed Smith’s business to grow to a level which was unreachable without a high-speed Internet connection. Connect Ohio continues to work with GMN Wireless to help it reach more un-served households.

According to Connect Ohio’s 2010 Business and Broadband Survey, only 67% of Ohio businesses use broadband, leaving 88,000 (33%) Ohio businesses off-line

Other Business Survey technology figures:

• Median annual revenues for broadband-connected Ohio businesses are $200,000 higher than those without broadband
• Ohio businesses pay a median monthly price of $67.36 for their broadband service
• Approximately 59,000 Ohio businesses allow their employees to telework, reducing the cost of office space and the number of miles that employees are forced to commute to work

For more information on GMN Wireless, visit http://www.gmn4u.com/ 

View the 2010 Broadband Business Survey http://connectoh.org/_documents/OH_BizWhitePaper_FINAL.pdf 

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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 

Related Links: Connect Ohio on Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/ConnectOhio Connect Ohio on Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/ConnectOH

Connect Ohio’s Technical Outreach Mapping & Research aids Broadband Expansion in Gallia County

Contact: Amanda Murphy 

614-220-0190 or amurphy@connectohio.org 

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE 

September 26, 2011 

A lease agreement between JB Nets and county officials for the use of three towers will provide high-speed Internet access to more than a thousand homes in rural Gallia County 

Columbus, Ohio – Connect Ohio is pleased to be part of the collaborative efforts of Gallia County officials and broadband provider JB Nets to expand high-speed Internet access to homes and businesses with a recently signed lease agreement for three county-owned towers.

JB Nets presented a broadband expansion business plan, which included Google Earth mapping of propagation studies and a business case analysis template designed by Connect Ohio, to Gallia County officials just over a week ago. According to Jake Kline, owner of JB Nets, the plan includes high-speed Internet coverage to 80% of the county within the next three years and the creation of at least two, but possibly three, full-time jobs.

“These three initial towers should be able to expand (Internet coverage) to 450-500 households,” said Kline. “However, our proposal also included 30 additional secondary towers to fill in gaps. We estimate approximately 1,200-1,400 total additional households that could receive service from us with all 33 towers constructed.”

Gallia County officials accepted the proposal and have signed lease agreements with JB Nets for the use of the three county-owned 911 communications towers, located in Gallipolis Township, Harrison Township, and Ohio Township.

“It is exciting to see community leaders cooperating with a local broadband provider to offer high-speed Internet to residents who otherwise would be left behind,” said Bart Winegar, technical outreach manager for Connect Ohio.

“The information Connect Ohio provided us was very useful in putting together our business plan/proposal,” said Kline.

According to Connect Ohio’s 2011 Residential Technology Assessment for Gallia County, only 42% of households receive broadband service to the home, significantly less than the state average of 66%.

Other Gallia County technology figures:

• Sixty-seven percent of Gallia County residents own a computer, which is less than the state average of 80% 
• Of the 33% of residents who do not own a computer, 71% claim they do not need a computer, 21% say computers are too complicated, and 20% say computers are too expensive 
• Seventy-five percent of residents access the Internet from home or some other location 
• The average monthly cost for home broadband service in Gallia County is $50.83, above the state average of $43.41 

For more information on JB Nets, visit http://jbnets.net.

Additional Gallia County technology research can be found at http://connectohio.org/_documents/Technology_Assessment_Gallia_County_2011.pdf.

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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 

Related Links: Connect Ohio on Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/ConnectOhio 
Connect Ohio on Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/ConnectOH