Ohio Broadband Council
• OBC Home
• Turnaround Ohio
• About the OBC
• Broadband Ohio
• Private Sector Roles

Related Initiatives
• Connect Ohio
• FCC Rural Health
   Care Pilot Program
• Appalachian
   Broadband
   Task Force
• Connecting
   Rural Ohio

Upcoming Events
Click here for a listing of upcoming Ohio Broadband Council events.

Mailing List
Click here to sign up for the OBC mailing list.

Related Initiatives

FCC Rural Health Care Pilot Program

The Federal Communication Commission's Rural Health Care Pilot Program is an innovative, enhanced funding initiative intended to help public and non-profit health care providers construct state- and region-wide broadband networks to provide telehealth and telemedicine services throughout the nation. The program will fund up to 85% of the costs of constructing those networks, as well as the costs of advanced telecommunications and information services that will ride over these networks. If selected, up to 85% of the cost of connecting to Internet2, a dedicated nationwide backbone, may also be funded by the pilot program. Connection to Internet 2 is not required, but may be requested by the applicants.

On Nov. 19, the FCC announced over $417 million for the construction of 69 statewide or regional broadband telehealth networks in 42 states and three U.S. territories under the program. Broadband deployment is one of the Commission's top priorities - particularly in rural America. And nowhere is the need for broadband greater than in rural healthcare, where isolated clinics can save lives by using advanced communications technology to tap the expertise of modern urban medical centers.