Wilmington, Ohio. Clinton County Commissioners have allocated $7.6 million with over $6.5 million from the federal American Rescue Plan Act funds toward upgrading existing connectivity and expanding broadband internet access to un-served and under-served parts of our county.

Commissioners signed a contract with Charter Communications/Spectrum for the installation of nearly 400 miles of new fiber optic infrastructure to more than 3,000 homes and small businesses with completion expected within 18 months of the approved pole permit necessary to complete the entire Project Area.

The Board of Commissioners initially commissioned a study which included public meetings as well as other public input through April, 2022, to confirm existing access to adequate internet services, priorities and the specific needs of the community in the areas of remote work, e-learning/education, telehealth, public safety and business needs. The study confirmed 47% of respondents completely lacked internet access.

In a separate $11 million project beginning in January, 2022, Spectrum began construction of fiber infrastructure in Clinton County under the FCC Rural Digital Opportunity fund to bring broadband services to more than 2,000 locations, activations for this phase of the project are 85% complete.

The combined projects and investments from both parties total more than $29 million for Clinton County and will deliver speeds of up to 1 Gbps with minimum speeds of 300 Mbps download and 10 Mbps upload. Once complete, more than 5,000 homes and small business across all 13 townships within the county will have access to broadband and other services.

“Internet connectivity is critical for families, students, businesses. This fiber installation places Clinton County in a great position strategically for the right type of growth, to keep and to attract good companies to the county. Allocating ARPA dollars to reach unserved and underserved areas of the county was an opportunity to use the federal funds in a manner to do the greatest good for the community, for something that would make an impact for years to come,” Commissioner Kerry R. Steed said.

“We heard from schools and parents that children were having difficulty connecting for remote learning, we heard from employers and employees that remote work was impossible in some cases, telehealth could not be accessed, we heard from the agricultural community the importance of connectivity for their business, this is a huge step forward in providing all of Clinton County with the fiber infrastructure needed for residents, businesses and future controlled growth,” stated Commissioner Mike McCarty.

“This improvement in our infrastructure to state-of-the-art technology places Clinton County in a position to attract businesses and to support the needs of residents,” stated Commissioner Brenda K. Woods.

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For Immediate Release: June 5, 2023
For more information, press only:
Clinton County Commissioners
Lisa Hipke, Clerk
937-382-2103
hipke.lisa@clintoncountyohio.us