County seeks funds for fiber optics

March 6, 2010 at 12:00a.m.

By D.A. WILKINSON

LISBON

Ready for “middle mile” and “end mile?”

Those are terms being used for applications for federal funds to expand fiber optics in portions of Columbiana County.

County Commissioner Penny Traina said the county is now in the second round of federal stimulus money.

Traina said that $100 million is available with 70 percent in the form of grants and the rest coming from the private sector.

“Middle-mile collaborative” refers to the installation of fiber-optic lines over long stretches where there are no lines, and “end mile” is the final connection, she explained.

Traina is also OMEGA’s chairwoman of the Ohio Mid-Eastern Governments Association that represents 34 Ohio counties.

The plan is to seek funds and then connect the two systems.

OMEGA will be asking for funds from the “Connecting Appalachia Ohio Middle Mile Collaborative.

Proposals for funding are to be submitted to the state by March 26. The funding will come from the U.S. Department of Agriculture, which has a variety of development programs.

Tracy Drake, the chief executive officer of the Columbiana County Port Authority, has said that most of the county could have wireless Internet service by the end of this year.