Officials come together to applaud high speed internet

FITCHVILLE — North Coast Wireless Communications, Huron County Commissioners, and officials from the State of Ohio all came together Wednesday morning to celebrate the expansion of high speed internet for 324 homes in the rural New London area. In the fall of 2022, North Coast Wireless Communications was awarded a House Bill 2 Residential Broadband Expansion Grant. The grant was created to help internet service providers build networks to serve Ohioans who currently could not participate in the modern economy because of a lack of high-speed internet. Basically, the grant was used to help the wireless communications company to provide internet accessibility in areas that are unserved or underserved. What that means is residents who could not get internet services now have access to broadband service with speeds up to one gigabit download and one gigabit upload. By utilizing Fiber-to-the-Premises (FTTP) technology, North Coast Wireless is able to scale the project to support future growth that supports consumer and data demands, officials said. "It'll make working from home a lot easier," North Coast Wireless President & CEO Matt Fridenstine said, adding other activities that people need to do such as remote learning will become easier. "This is a really big gap that we were able to fill." Ohio Department of Development Chief of Broadband Ohio Peter Voderberg said the new service helps close the "digital divide." All three Huron County Commissioners attended the Wednesday morning event and all three spoke very highly of the project. "I think it's wonderful," Commissioner Terry Boose said. "It means Huron County now has increased infrastructure, new infrastructure, and faster infrastructure." Commissioner Skip Wilde said commissioners have made connectivity a big issue. "Our No. 1 goal is to get reliable, affordable internet to everybody," Wilde said. "We want everybody to have it." Commissioner Harry Brady said those who will now have access to high speed internet include schools, businesses and farmers. "This should make their lives easier," Brady said.