Small Town News

County lacking in broadband adoption

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ConnectGRADD trying to hook up rural areas

Ohio County ranks among the lowest of Kentucky counties in broadband adoption, according to a 2009 Connect-Kentucky study.

With the state average at 44 percent, Ohio County is at or below 28 percent of the broadband adoption rate.

However, broadband Internet for the rural areas of Ohio County could be making some headway due to an ambitious project put in motion over two years ago with ConnectGRADD.

Joey Randolph, project manager for Norlight Inc., updated Ohio County Fiscal Court last Tuesday about its installation progress.

Since May, Norlight has been seeking lease agreements with local cities and Ohio County Water District for using water tanks as Internet signal sites.

"We have gotten all of the OKs that we've asked for so far," Randolph said. "The work has not commenced yet."

Water tanks that have been approved include Bells Run, Olaton, and the Hartford, Beaver Dam and Fords-ville city tanks.

"We will likely use the Bluegrass Crossings tank but we want to get these others in place and see what kind of coverage those provide," Randolph said. "Also, we will likely use the tank at Windy Hill but we have the Baizetown tower that can't be more than a half mile away. We're not going to make it a priority right now, but we know (Windy Hill) is a better location."

One site that is operational is in the Hoover Hill area and residents in its vicinity were able to start ordering last Monday.

Randolph estimated that Ohio County has 85 customers -- an amount that hasn't increased since the spring--on the ConnectGRADD Internet service.

"Given we haven't added any new sites, we didn't expect it to be up from May," Randolph said.

Thanksgiving has been set as the target date to have the additional water tank sites operational.

Magistrate Larry Keown questioned the length of time that it has taken to install the equipment.

"I hear from (people) interested in getting the wireless Internet and I really didn't have any answers....I just want to broaden my horizon so I can inform these people on what kind of time frame we're looking at."

Randolph explained that Norlight wasn't responsible for installing the equipment in the beginning.

Digital Connection Incorporated (DCI) was originally awarded the bid to oversee the installation, with Norlight being the Internet service provider. Norlight eventually bought out DCI and is now in charge of the entire project.

Randolph said the expectation of a 93.2 coverage rate was set too high with Ohio County's large geography and up and down terrain.

"I don't want to imply any malicious intent but I do think the original designers expected better performance than what they got, which is why things changed a year into the project. I wish expectations were set differently. I don't think anybody involved realized how complex this was going to be."

Norlight is concentrating on the rural residents of the county, since most who live in the city limits of Hartford and Beaver Dam have access to high-speed Internet.

"(Hartford and Beaver Dam) are the least important to us because there is highspeed access in those towns," Randolph said. "We're trying to get to people outside the cities. I don't have a great feel for the number of population which will have access to it. I do feel good geographically."

Randolph said the goal is to provide every rural home in Ohio County with broadband coverage. Currently, the company is searching for a site in Dundee.

"We don't see this ending anytime soon if ever," Randolph said. "As long as there are pockets of homes with a demand and it makes financial sense to get coverage there, we're going to keep looking at it."

ConnectGRADD is a regional effort to provide broadband Internet service to the rural areas of Daviess, Hancock, Union, Webster, Henderson, McLean and Ohio counties.

The seven-county initiative has a goal of providing broadband Internet to those areas that are either under-served or not served at all.

The cost of the project is set at $2.3 million. Ohio County's share was $250,000 up front and another $150,000 that would be collected later.

To place an order or to find out if the ConnectGRADD service is available in a particular area of the county call 1-877-472-3341.



Copyright 2009 The Ohio County Times-News, Hartford, Kentucky. All Rights Reserved. This content, including derivations, may not be stored or distributed in any manner, disseminated, published, broadcast, rewritten or reproduced without express, written consent from SmallTownPapers, Inc.

© 2009 The Ohio County Times-News Hartford, Kentucky. All Rights Reserved. This content, including derivations, may not be stored or distributed in any manner, disseminated, published, broadcast, rewritten or reproduced without express, written consent from DAS.

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