Breezeline Outlines Maryland Public-Private Partnerships

Regional cable operator Breezeline, formerly Atlantic Broadband, has entered into two public-private partnerships in Maryland. The larger of the two partnerships will extend broadband to 524 homes and businesses in Cecil, St Mary’s and Queen Anne’s (MD) counties. Breezeline is contributing $347,000 to that project. Other contributors are the state, which is providing $3.68 million and the counties, which will contribute $309,000. The total cost of the project is expected to be $4.3 million. Applications for grants to support the deployment were submitted to the Maryland Network Infrastructure Grant Program and the Neighborhood Connect Broadband Funding Program. Both programs are aimed at extending broadband to unserved areas. The programs are administered through the state’s Office of Statewide Broadband. The other announcement was a $339,000 grant to Breezeline and the St Mary’s County Board of Education from the Maryland Emergency Education Relief (MEER) grant program. The funding will bring broadband to 23 student households. The grant program is administered by the Maryland Department of Housing and Community Development (DHCD) through the Office of Statewide Broadband (OSB).