Wicomico County, Maryland, Partners With Talkie Communications For Broadband Funding

Local officials say a partnership between Wicomico County (MD) and an internet service provider is expected to help expand broadband access to unserved areas. In a meeting of the Wicomico County Council in mid-January 2022, Acting County Executive John Psota announced a non-legally binding partnership with Talkie Communications, a Chestertown (MD)-based internet service provider, to secure state grant funding for broadband infrastructure projects. Psota noted the partnership, selected through a request for proposal (RFP) process, has allowed Talkie to apply for $20 million in state grant funding with a letter of support from the county. “Talkie will use FCC’s Rural Digital Opportunity Fund Grant they were awarded to supplement many fiber projects in Wicomico County and as part of the 10 percent match requirement for infrastructure grants,” said John Monar, Wicomico County’s information technology director. “Grant funding awards would allow for more than 300 miles of fiberoptic-to-the-premise broadband internet service to be made available to more than 2,100 primary unserved Wicomico County structures.”