Columbiana County Port Authority is planning for country-wide wireless Internet access. The council has formed a group to promote technological advancement in the East Liverpool area.
The Port Authority plans to develop wireless access using a fiber-optic network already in place. More than twenty-six district schools in Columbiana and Mahoning counties have joined together to purchase the fiber-optic network, called ACCESS. Once the network is developed, the schools can run into cost overruns and found that the system was more robust than necessary for their use. The Port Authority's plan is to hang wireless transmitters from water towers, other state structures or telephone poles. County residents would need to purchase between US$ 50 and US$ 100 of equipment for their home to receive the wireless signals, then they would probably pay from US$ 15 to US$ 30 per month for service.
