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Private Investment

A significant goal of the initiative is to encourage new network investment in rural areas where it is currently difficult for service providers to obtain a reasonable return on investment. This goal will be achieved in several ways:

• OBC will recommend the development of a comprehensive plan for broadband connectivity to each county to serve as the aggregation point to transport service to the state’s centralized network. A consistent platform for the delivery of next generation services will be developed while providing the private sector with an aggregation point designed to generate the return on investment the private provider needs to continue expansion in the area.
• Through OBC, the Office of Information Technology and the Ohio Supercomputer Center will direct the process for private-sector broadband providers to connect to the network backbone, lowering the overall capital costs while extending broadband services in rural areas.
• The OBC will recommend the creation of grants to be made available through a competitive process for the private sector to provide last-mile connections in rural areas.

This strategy will provide Ohio’s service providers with new opportunities to enter rural markets and create the capital necessary to invest in rural areas where they would typically not receive an adequate return on investment.