OMEGA Hosts Annual Meeting, Broadband Internet Service is Underway

COSHOCTON COUNTY, Ohio- More access to the internet is on its way to Muskingum County, as well as 10 others in the region. 

Today was the annual report meeting hosted by the Ohio Mid- Eastern Government Association, or OMEGA.

The meeting was held in Coshocton and the Association discussed updates on the county level profiles for the broadband feasibility study.

The Governor’s Office Appalachia Director, John Carey let us know that the development is a working progress and that people can expect to see improvement very soon.

Carey stated, “Also worked with the private providers, like Spectrum for example, to identify the areas that are not served yet. And they’re going to serve those in the next two years. We’ll see thousands of houses served by broadband that are not being served now.”

In addition to households being served, the meeting also discussed how other aspects of the community would be directly benefited. 

Tom Reid, of Reid Consulting Group, the group in charge of the Connecting Appalachian Coalition also mentioned plans of progress, including the breakdown of grants and how the money will serve the community. 

“Our goal right now is to identify where grants have been issued, which should solve this problem, be able to track that they’re actually happening along with broadband Ohio, well have our own tracking mechanism to assist their process…and then target the remaining areas,” Reid told us.

The meeting also discussed several grants, including ones for $240 million, $270 million, and one next year with at least $1 billion anticipated. The hope is that the broadband expansion will directly aid the community in economics, healthcare, real estate, and education. 

To learn more and for the latest updates about broadband near you, you can visit the Department of Development website under ‘Broad Band.’