Bill in the Works to Help Rural Communities Get Adequate Internet Service

October 1, 2020 by Diane Ryder

The COVID-19 pandemic, which chased most people into their homes for weeks and months at a time, uncovered a major problem those who live in rural areas know only too well — reliable, affordable  internet service is almost impossible to obtain.

Throughout Geauga County, residents are forced to find creative, often expensive, ways to log themselves in for work, their children for school and the family for all their online needs.

Internet service, once considered a novelty, then later, a source of information and amusement, became a necessity in 2020 when the novel coronavirus pandemic forced most people to depend on their home internet for their daily lives.

“The frustrating part is, there has been no one to turn to for help,” Auburn Township resident Shelly Lewis wrote in a recent email.

Linda DeMarco, also an Auburn resident, owns a consultant business that helps rural communities obtain internet service. Ironically, she recently had to pack up all of her equipment and drive to her mother’s house in Lyndhurst to use internet to conduct a webinar for her clients because her own internet service at home was sporadic at best.

“Internet connection needs to be considered a necessity and regulated as a utility by the (Public Utilities Commission of Ohio),” DeMarco said during a recent phone interview. “The Ohio Legislature needs to mandate internet availability as a utility. The internet should be as simple as turning on a switch for electricity.”

State Sen. John Eklund, R-Munson Township, said Sept. 25 during a phone interview he has been working with townships in Geauga County, particularly in Troy Township, for nine years to find ways to make reliable internet service accessible to everyone.

“This issue has been around since I’ve been in the General Assembly,” Eklund said. “I’ve been working with businessmen and trustees, reaching out to providers and asking them what is going on. I’ve been given to understand that the industry is working diligently to address this problem because it makes sense for everybody to have access.”

Eklund said internet providers have told him it is not profitable for them to run the necessary fiber optic cables into areas of less density, so homes in rural areas are too remote to make the effort to reach them worth the investment.

“That’s why we currently have Substitute House Bill 13 — ‘lucky 13’ — which passed the House and is right now in the Senate Energy and Public Utilities Committee on which I sit,” Eklund said.

Sponsored by state Rep. Nick Carfagna (R-Westerville), H.B. 13 will create Ohio’s first-ever Residential Broadband Expansion Program, according to the Ohio House of Representatives website. The bill provides grants to offset construction cost hurdles and help facilitate the expansion of high speed internet and broadband services to unserved households across Ohio.

“We’ve had one hearing on it so far,” Eklund said. “It’s designed to encourage broadband providers to expand, but it discourages companies to piggyback on another company’s investment. It won’t pay for the entire effort, but will make up the shortfall.”

The bill sets up a commission to evaluate the grant applications and also provides electric distribution utilities, through the PUCO, to extend existing broadband further to “the last mile” or the end of a transmission line, which typically gets the weakest signal.

“It’s a two-pronged attack on the problem,” the senator said. “It’s not a complete solution, but it lifts the corner of the tent. We would still recognize providers’ territories, since an incumbent provider could object to another provider using their equipment. The commission would ferret all that out. Newcomers would have to demonstrate that they have the capabilities to do this and at the same time, the incumbent can extend to an underserved part of their existing territory.”

Eklund said the bill has merit and he believes it is viable, but he always hesitates to add another layer of government control over the free market.

He said he is not convinced internet service needs to be regulated under the PUCO.

“It’s not clear to me that they need to be regulated as utilities,” Eklund said. “We don’t need to expand the powers of the PUCO, which has no expertise on this. Giving them more authority would be a major, major change.”

The senator said he believes H.B. 13 might be a happy medium between government assisting, but not handing them too much regulatory authority.

“It’s a knotty little issue,” Eklund said.

He thinks the bill has a good chance of passing the Senate and being signed into law by Governor Mike DeWine by the end of the legislative session at the end of the year.

“We lost eight or nine weeks this session due to the COVID shutdown, so that slowed us down, but if it doesn’t get through this session, it will undoubtedly be re-introduced when the next General Assembly convenes next year,” Eklund said.

One internet company is reportedly installing fiber optic lines along Washington Street, but connecting to that service will take several months, said Auburn Township Administrative Assistant Nancy Dolezal.

In the meantime, as they wait for the wheels of government to turn, people are finding creative ways to obtain enough bandwidth to work at home.

Tom McGinnis, of Auburn Township, who lives on a major road and has a long driveway, uses 15 computers as he works from home as an internet expert for a major bank.

“I have two phone lines that bond two DSLs together,” McGinnis said. “It’s a business DSL line through Windstream. It’s not fast, but it’s reliable. It’s pretty bad that I have to go over phone lines. Very low tech.”

McGinnis uses satellite for TV, but he can’t get Cleveland Indians games.

“I’d sign up for good cable in a heartbeat if I had that ability,” he said. “Everybody I know is eager to subscribe to reliable internet.”

Cindy Tomasek, also of Auburn Township, told township trustees last week she purchases internet service from both available companies simultaneously to get enough connection for her and her husband to work from home.

Linda DeMarco, of Auburn Township, drives to her mother’s house in Cuyahoga County to use the internet when she is conducting business that can’t be interrupted.

Auburn Trustee John Eberly said his son purchases “hot spots” from his cell phone company that allows him to connect to the internet with enough service to work from home, and for his two children to do online learning.

Using a “hot spot,” either by phone or by purchasing separate equipment, can cost up to $350 per month.

Others try to find the internet in parking lots, coffee shops and public buildings such as public libraries.

“Many people in our district depend on their public library for internet,” Eklund said. “That’s why demand has increased dramatically for library services. People need the internet and they get it where they can — the library, coffee shops or McDonald’s. Until they can get broadband at home, they find unique ways to get access to broadband.”

“I’ve had residents tell me they’ll gladly pay anything for good internet service,” Dolezal added. “First, we have to find a company willing to come in. I feel terrible for our residents, but it’s basically in the providers’ hands.”

Several efforts to reach officials at three internet providers: Spectrum, Windstream and Suddenlink, were unsuccessful. Messages seeking comment were not returned.