The Delaware County, Ohio Board of Commissioners and Consolidated Cooperative have announced the start of a $4.9 million joint initiative to dramatically expand affordable fiber optic broadband access to large swaths of the heavily underserved county.
According to county officials, the expansion will be funded via American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) funds, and the deployment will target more rural communities largely in the northwestern and north-central portions of Delaware County.
“We are very pleased to see this project taking tangible form now,” Delaware County Board Of Commissioners President Barb Lewis said of the project.
“So many more families, especially in the rural parts of the county, will finally be able to connect to high-speed Internet from their homes and farms, rather than having to travel someplace else to access it.”
Consolidated Cooperative provides electricity service to 15,900 electric members via 18,000 meters across eight counties in north central Ohio. The cooperative, which won the county contract during a competitive sealed bid process last year, says it has begun network construction and plans to begin offering service to impacted areas as early as this spring.
Consolidated offers four tiers of broadband service: symmetrical 300 megabit per second (Mbps) fiber for $80 a month, symmetrical 500 Mbps fiber for $100 a month, symmetrical 1 gigabit per second (Gbps) fiber for $120 a month, and a specialized symmetrical 1 Gbps “Gamer Gig” service (featuring reduced latency and “prioritized” routing) for $140 a month.
All tiers come with a $150 activation charge, but no long term contracts, hidden fees, or usage caps.
“Today, fiber is a critical utility that is used by everyone,” County Commissioner Jeff Benton said of the new project. “Even here in Delaware County we have areas that will now get good coverage, thanks to this initiative.”
The origins of Delaware county’s initiative go back to 2023 when the County Board of Commissioners conducted a study of Internet access and network infrastructure throughout Delaware County and found broad dissatisfaction with the state of existing services and a significant number of “Internet deserts” in the farmland-heavy northern part of the county.
Enter cooperatives, which have been leveraging nearly a century of experience in tackling rural electrical market failure to shore up the obvious digital divide. Thanks to an historic infusion in federal broadband grants.
“For almost 90 years, Consolidated has been finding ways to bring safe, affordable and reliable services to areas where for-profit providers either can’t or won’t — at least not at reasonable prices,” says Consolidated President and CEO Phil Caskey. “What’s especially rewarding for us is the opportunity to continue our long-standing partnership with a forward-thinking community like Delaware County.”
Inline image of crowd gathered for summer concert courtesy of County Facebook page
