Rep Hal Rogers leads tour to tout the benefit of better broadband in southern and Eastern Kentucky

US Rep Hal Rogers (R-KY) led a tour to showcase the potential for much-improved broadband service to boost economic development in southern and Eastern Kentucky. The tour was part of the Shaping Our Appalachian Region initiative, which Rep Rogers and Gov Steve Beshear (D-KY) started in 2013 to try to diversify the economy in Eastern Kentucky, crippled by the loss of half its coal jobs since early 2012.

The initiative is promoting a project that would cost up to $200 million to build 3,000 miles of fiber-optic infrastructure across the state, starting in Eastern Kentucky. The Internet pipeline would come from the Cincinnati area down Interstate 75 and branch off at several points through the eastern end of the state, Rep Rogers said.