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Spectrum awarded ORBEC 2 grant to bring fiber to four Lorain County townships
Summary
A public commenter representing Spectrum told commissioners that the company received an award under Ohio’s Residential Broadband Expansion Grant Program (ORBEG 2) to build roughly 28.8 fiber miles serving about 285 locations across Eaton, Grafton, LaGrange and New Russia townships; the project must be completed by December 2026.
A Spectrum representative told the Lorain County Board of Commissioners on July 15 that the company received an award under Ohio’s Residential Broadband Expansion Grant Program (ORBEG 2) to bring fiber-based internet service to unserved or underserved parts of four Lorain County townships.
Public commenter Sandra Williams, who identified herself as representing Spectrum Charter Communications, told commissioners that the award covers Eaton Township, Grafton Township, LaGrange Township and New Russia Township and will pass approximately 285 locations over about 28.8 fiber route miles. She said the estimated build cost is about $1.6 million and that Spectrum will contribute financially to the project in addition to the grant award.
Williams thanked commissioners for a letter of support the county provided to BroadbandOhio and said design work for the project had begun; the project’s completion deadline is December 2026 under the state grant terms. She said the list of addresses included in the award is available on the BroadbandOhio website and that she could email a copy to commissioners.
Why it matters: The ORBEG 2 round is intended to fund last-mile broadband infrastructure to improve household internet access speeds in areas lacking reliable high-speed service. Williams said the service standard being provided is 100 Mbps symmetric (100 by 100).
Action and next steps: This presentation was made during the public-comment portion of the meeting; commissioners did not take formal action on the item during the session. Staff and the company may coordinate design and implementation as the build progresses toward the state-mandated completion date.
Ending: Commissioners thanked the commenter. County staff did not identify any additional county funding for the project during the meeting; the speaker said Spectrum would also contribute to the build cost.
