Ohio Governor Mike DeWine, Lt. Governor Jon Husted and Ohio Department of Development Director Lydia Mihalik today announced a state investment of $50 million in support of a broadband expansion project designed to improve internet coverage at approximately 38,000 addressable locations in Southwest Ohio - serving 13,000 households and over 30,000 people who have no service today.

BroadbandOhio, a division of the Department of Development, is partnering with altafiber to provide high-speed, affordable internet in Adams, Brown, and Clermont counties as part of a Multi-County Last Mile Fiber Build Pilot program. Once completed, the project aims to provide high-speed broadband access to every unserved and underserved address in the tri-county region.

Through the multi-county project, altafiber will undertake the necessary design, construction, and installation of equipment and infrastructure to extend its existing fiber optic network to approximately 38,000 single-family unit and multi-dwelling unit addressable locations within the service area, including 13,263 that are considered unserved or underserved.

The program will provide residents of Adams, Brown, and Clermont counties access to altafiber's high-speed fiber-based network, delivering multi-gig speeds to both residents and businesses located in the project area.

Once the buildout is completed, approximately 3,606 unserved and 3,390 underserved addresses in Adams County, 3,465 unserved and 1,753 underserved addresses in Brown County, and 766 unserved and 283 underserved addresses in Clermont County will have improved internet capabilities.

BroadbandOhio is providing $50 million of the total project cost of $110 million, with altafiber investing $60 million. The state's portion of the funding comes from the U.S. Department of Treasury's Capital Projects Fund.

Read the full press release here.

BroadbandOhio