Connect Appalachia Broadband Initiative

Download our newest report- Bridging the Divide: Broadband and Businesses in Appalachian Ohio

The opportunity to grow jobs, skills, and lure new businesses depends on the availability and use of high-speed Internet service. Rural Appalachia Ohio faces a significant barrier to the opportunities that the Internet brings due to connectivity and adoption gaps.

Our 2011 report, Technology Barriers and Adoption in Rural Appalachian Ohio, reveals that 531,000 adults in rural Appalachia do not have home broadband and 124,000 report that service is either unavailable, or the speeds are insufficient in meeting their needs.

The Governor's Office in conjunction with Connect Ohio and Chesapeake Energy has established the Appalachia Broadband Task Force to immediately address the broadband gap in rural Appalachia. The Task Force is administered by Connect Ohio and is made up of public, private, and nonprofit leaders. 

Mission: The Connect Appalachia Broadband (CABI) Task Force intends to pull Appalachia Ohio to within state and national standards in broadband adoption by 2014 by identifying and coordinating resources required for facilitating affordable broadband access and driving adoption through digital literacy training.

The Task Force will improve access by utilizing the successful local-level efforts of Connect Ohio's last-mile technical assistance team by broadening projects to a regional level and Connect Ohio's Every Citizen Online free basic computer and Internet training program will aid in increasing adoption.

Want to learn more? View a fact sheet of the program.