State Representative Gary Scherer recently hosted a public meeting in Circleville to discuss broadband coverage in his district.
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Scherer says “Connected Nation Ohio held seven Rural Broadband Forums throughout the state and after attending the Newark session, I knew that we needed to hold an eighth forum in the 92nd house district,” said Scherer. “Broadband access is a significant issue among many constituents. As I tell the people around the Statehouse, my home is only 25 miles from downtown Columbus and yet we have little to no broadband access.”
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The Connected Nation Ohio (CN Ohio) Regional Broadband Forums took place in late January. CN Ohio has been working with broadband service providers to accurately map broadband service areas, identify and analyze where broadband coverage is lacking, and create innovative solutions to improve connectivity statewide.
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The focus of the forums was to discuss updated broadband coverage maps-and more specifically- to hear from residents and businesses about how the maps can be improved. After speaking with many residents at the Pickaway County meeting, Connected Nation gained valuable feedback on the current state of broadband access in the district and felt that it was productive to hold this eighth broadband forum.
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Rep. Scherer’s district covers most of Pickaway, Fayette, and Ross counties. It’s an area that’s widely rural, but that also has some larger towns peppered throughout - the largest being Chillicothe. The Representative hopes that meetings like these will encourage residents and businesses to weigh-in on the broadband coverage maps and will lead to improved investment in expanding access.