Maryland Receives $115 Million For Broadband

On Sept 17, Sen Barbara Mikulski (D-MD) announced that Maryland will receive upwards of $115 million stimulus dollars to extend broadband into rural and underserved communities.

Maryland won the funding through the Commerce Department's Broadband Technology Opportunities Program. The grants are expected to generate a total of 1600 jobs that will help provide Maryland high-speed access to areas that of the state that currently have little or no Internet connectivity. One firm will use the funds to create a new network that connects the state from Western Maryland to the Eastern Shore, reaching 2 million homes and 443,000 businesses.

The grant to the Maryland Department of Information Technology will fund deployment of high-speed Internet infrastructure to deliver affordable broadband service to each of Maryland's 24 counties. The project plans to construct over 1,200 miles of new fiber and incorporate 2,400 miles of existing fiber from three independent networks. The new network plans to provide enhanced broadband service to more than 1,000 community anchor institutions, including universities, K-12 schools, libraries, public safety, and healthcare facilities, and connect educational hubs like the University of Maryland and Coppin State University to National LambdaRail and Internet2. In addition, local Internet service providers will be able to utilize the new infrastructure to deploy new or improved high-speed Internet service to consumers and businesses.