State Representative Calls Broadband Access the “Number One Issue among all Constituents”
About 40 people attended the public meeting held in Circleville, Ohio on Feb. 18 to discuss improving the broadband coverage maps
Circleville, OH. (February 24, 2020) – State Representative Gary Scherer (R-Dist. 92) recently hosted a public meeting in Circleville to discuss broadband coverage in his district.
“I was at one of the earlier Connected Nation Ohio Broadband Forums. I knew that we needed to get this to the 92nd house district,” Rep. Scherer said. “Broadband access is a number one issue among all constituents. As I tell the people around the statehouse, we’re only 25 miles from downtown Columbus and yet we have no or very little broadband access.”
The Connected Nation Ohio (CN Ohio) Regional Broadband Forums took place in late January across the state. CN Ohio has been working with broadband service providers to accurately map broadband service areas, identify and analyze where broadband coverage is lacking, and create innovative solutions to improve connectivity statewide.
The focus of the forums was to discuss updated broadband coverage maps—and more specifically— to hear from residents and businesses about how the maps can be improved.
Rep. Scherer’s district covers most of Pickaway, Fayette, and Ross counties. It’s an area that’s widely rural but that also has some larger towns peppered throughout—the largest being Chillicothe (pop. 21,801). The representative hopes that meetings like these will encourage residents and businesses to weigh-in on the broadband coverage maps and will lead to improved investment in expanding access.
“Government isn’t the answer for everything but the government definitely plays a part here in incentivizing providers to get out to the rural areas. Because it’s understandable that on their own it might not be economical to do it,” said Rep. Scherer.
If you were unable to attend the meeting but would still like to provide feedback, you can still review the maps under “Mapping & Analysis” section of connectednation.org/ohio and provide input using this form.
Watch CN Ohio's interview with Rep. Scherer to learn more about what can be done in the district and why he's excited about recent federal actions.