Internet costs, poor service keep southeast Ohioans offline

According to the US Census Bureau, between 2017 to 2021, about 28% of households in Ohio’s Columbiana County (more than 11,500 households) did not have an active broadband subscription. A similar problem exists across rural Appalachia in Ohio — and it is an expensive problem to fix. Regions like Southeast Ohio present a challenge to installing broadband due to the hilly and rural terrain. Just 20% of Vinton County’s households have access to broadband, according to the Ohio Department of Development. The Ohio government passed a $250 million spending package in 2022 and leveraged that money through the private sector, meaning they asked companies to add more money to the project. The spending package ended up doubling to $500 million. According to Lt. Governor Jon Husted (R-OH), all of that money will go toward a broadband expansion plan in Ohio. Since the Internet is a service provided by private companies, he said the government’s plan is to give monetary incentives to Internet companies to extend their coverage to people in need. The goal of the Ohio government’s plan is to not only extend internet service into these communities but also ensure that internet access is affordable.