Ohio County Gets Creative to Activate Rural Broadband

(TNS) — A new set of bids seeking to widen the scope of companies interested in providing broadband Internet service to areas where it doesn't exist in Ashtabula County have been set.

Two proposals to provide broadband services for rural areas of Ashtabula County were bid last year, and Spectrum Mid-America was selected as the winning bid, but later could not comply with the language in the bid, according to the Ashtabula County Board of Commissioners.

The bids are part of a $2.5 million grant that can be used for the purpose of expanding broadband Internet in rural areas. On Tuesday, the commissioners officially rejected last years bids and rebid the project, hoping to receive more bids.

The commissioners said a consultant suggested breaking down the project, so companies could bid on smaller portions of it. The hope is that multiple companies will bid on the smaller parts of the project so more people can receive Internet.

"It is a little different strategy," Commissioner J.P. Ducro said.

Ducro said another Internet project with Spectrum and Brightspeed has provided relief for rural areas of Ashtabula and Trumbull counties and is part of a larger plan to get broadband Internet to everyone in the area.

A number of Internet companies continue to provide new service to more rural areas in the county.

Ducro said Kinetic Windstream is one of those companies.

Ducro runs into people who tell him their Internet has improved in certain parts of the county, he said.

If the newly-rebid project could get broadband service to 1,500-2,000 more people, that would be good, he said.

After the project and others like it are complete, the commissioners hope to have a more specific idea about which areas are still in Internet limbo.

"We will have a much better understanding of the need," Ducro said.

Ducro said the goal is to have broadband service for everyone, but he knows it won't be an easy task.

"That will be a tall order," he said.

One of the key partners in providing Internet service to rural areas is Broadband Ohio, a state organization.

Ducro said the organization has worked hard with the commissioners to improve service in Ashtabula County .

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