Technology for Ohio’s Tomorrow (TOT) applauded the recent announcement of $795 million in federal grants and loans for increased broadband deployment, including a significant award in Ohio. The funding, announced last week by President Barack Obama, will finance 66 projects across the country aimed at improving high speed Internet access.

Here in Ohio, ComNet, Inc. received a $30 million grant for an Ohio Middle Mile Consortium (OMMC) project. The project will provide connectivity to ComNet, Inc.’s high capacity fiber network for as many as 880 community anchor institutions, including K-12, state and local government, public safety, libraries and community support organization facilities.

OMMC partners Com Net, Inc., Horizon Telcom, OneCommunity and OARnet formed a public-private partnership to create a comprehensive statewide plan to expand broadband infrastructure to the underserved and unserved areas of the state. Other projects submitted by OMMC are pending. Once completed, the Ohio Middle Mile Consortium will benefit over 2 million Buckeyes, boosting 165,000 businesses and 3,000 other community institutions.

TOT Executive Director Scott Schweitzer applauded the investment.

“I applaud the OMMC for its vision in developing a comprehensive broadband plan for Ohio and its competitive proposals,” said Schweitzer. “Broadband expansion will continue to be a catalyst for moving Ohio forward, creating 21st century jobs and opportunities across the state.”

Tags: Broadband

This entry was posted on Friday, July 2nd, 2010 at 3:53 pm and is filed under Technology 4 Ohio. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.