Ohio

Industry groups USTelecom and NTCA–The Rural Broadband Association are backing a request from fiber operator Lumos for the Federal Communications Commission to override some permitting fees and requirements imposed by Stark and Mahoning counties in Ohio. But the County Engineers Association of Ohio is urging the FCC to exercise caution in its decision-making, while the counties themselves argue that Lumos' claims misrepresent the situation.

Federal Communications Commission Chairman Brendan Carr is in Northeast Ohio for events with some of America’s hardworking tower crews, broadband builders, and local broadcasters. These visits follow stops Chairman Carr made in Central Ohio that focused on American Drone Dominance and public safety communications. Chairman Carr will be joined by members of the Ohio Congressional delegation.

Cleveland City Council has authorized a $4.35 million performance payment to DigitalC after the nonprofit exceeded its 2025 goals for connecting Cleveland households to high-speed home internet and providing residents with essential digital skills training, marking a major milestone for The Cleveland Model for digital equity. Cleveland's investment in DigitalC is helping demonstrate how a city can move quickly, intentionally and measurably to expand broadband access, digital skills and opportunity.

Brightspeed announced a major milestone in its Ohio fiber expansion: the company’s statewide fiber network build is nearly 65% complete. The company is making significant strides in its effort to bring reliable, future‑ready connectivity to more communities across the state. Brightspeed Fiber Internet is now available to more than 350,000 homes and businesses across Ohio, delivering 100% fiber-to-the-home connectivity with multi-gig-speed internet service.

Brightspeed was joined by local and state leaders, community members, and partners in Johnson County (AR) to celebrate a milestone years in the making: the launch of multi-gig-speed fiber internet in Coal Hill, Hartman and surrounding rural areas.

Spectrum announced significant progress in its multi-year effort to expand high-speed fiber broadband access for rural communities across more than 20 Ohio counties, connecting more homes and small businesses with access to its new, state-of-the-art fiber broadband network. Spectrum is expanding its network to unserved and underserved areas in Adams, Athens, Carroll, Coshocton, Gallia, Guernsey, Highland, Hocking, Holmes, Jackson, Lawrence, Meigs, Morgan, Muskingum, Noble, Perry, Pike, Ross, Scioto, Vinton, and Washington Counties, equipping residents and small businesses with new connectiv

Mercury Wireless Indiana and Mercury Broadband request a limited waiver of the Federal Communications Commission’s Rural Digital Opportunity Fund’s (“RDOF”) service milestone and non-compliance rules in Indiana, Michigan, and Ohio. Consistent with Wireline Competition Bureau precedent, Mercury requests limited relief similar to that provided to other carriers that have relinquished some, but not all, of their RDOF-funded support.

Under Commerce Secretary Lutnick’s leadership, our Benefit of the Bargain reforms restored the program to its statutory objective: universal connectivity delivered through competition, accountability, and respect for the law.  The result has been lower costs for taxpayers, real skin in the game for providers, and faster broadband access for consumers. States, freed from unlawful one-size-fits-all mandates, could evaluate projects on a granular basis and select those that truly fit their needs.

A US Ignite Community recently reached two momentous milestones. Cleveland (OH) became the first major US city to deploy a full next-gen fixed wireless network through a local nonprofit, DigitalC. In just 18 months, DigitalC created and deployed the Cleveland Model—a customized network explicitly designed for Cleveland. Although tailored for Cleveland’s unique landscape, the engineers designed the model so that it could be a blueprint for other cities working to expand Internet connectivity.