UNION TOWNSHIP, Ohio – The state of Ohio has announced a new $130 million public-private partnership with internet provider Altafiber to expand broadband access.
Over the next few years, workers will use the money to install high-speed internet service in three counties in rural southwest Ohio: Adams County, Brown County and Clermont County.
The project affects approximately 38,000 addresses in Adams, Brown and Clermont counties – 13,000 of these households are “completely unserved.”
“Why does this matter? Because if you don’t have access to high-speed internet, you don’t have access to the modern economy, health care, education – you’re at a clear disadvantage,” said Jon Husted, Ohio’s lieutenant governor.
AltaFiber will raise about $80 million for the project, while Ohio will contribute $50 million, Husted said.
“Without a public-private partnership, the economy doesn’t work,” said Lieutenant Governor Husted. “We just had to find a good partner.”
AltaFiber, formerly Cincinnati Bell, serves more than a dozen areas in Ohio and Indiana.
“This is access to healthcare, this is access to education, this is access to job training,” said Leigh Fox, CEO of AltaFiber. “It’s critical for everyone to have next-generation internet to stay connected in their communities.”
Gary Miller, who lives in one of the more rural parts of Batavia, knows what it’s like to have connection problems.
“We’re a long way from the road, about a half-mile and then three-quarters of a mile,” Miller said. “There were a lot of periods with storms and stuff where (connections) were lost and then restored.”
In 2023, Miller said, AltaFiber teams would have used grant money to lay free internet cables to his and his daughter’s property.
“It used to be slower, or the grandchildren would be sitting in it and (my daughter) couldn’t get on, but she’s very happy with the new service. It’s much faster,” he said. “It’s absolutely necessary.”
The county that is likely to benefit most from the project is Adams County, where more than 7,000 addresses are completely underserved, followed by Brown County with 5,000 and Clermont County with 1,000.
The first phase of the project will be completed by Dec. 31, 2026, Husted said, with the remainder being completed sometime in 2028.
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