Maryland competed for and won one of the largest broadband infrastructure grants in the country. The U.S. Department of Commerce’s National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) awarded the $115.2 M grant to help Maryland connect community anchor institutions and advance economic development.
Carroll is a part of the One Maryland Broadband Network, a grant sub-recipient, which includes nine other local governments including Anne Arundel County, City of Annapolis, Baltimore County, Baltimore City, Frederick County, Harford County, Howard County, Montgomery County and Prince George’s County. The funding will allow the consortium to build-out and interconnect state and local fiber optic networks. According to One Maryland technical staff, the proposed network plan would directly connect over 1,000 community anchor institutions, including 458 schools, 262 public safety facilities, 221 government buildings, 44 libraries and 21 community colleges.
The NTIA award follows Carroll County’s Maryland Broadband Cooperative (MDBC) partnership announcement. MDBC is a membership organization created to facilitate public/private partnerships to spur economic development through high-speed broadband deployment. MDBC members now have access to lease Carroll County Fiber Network “dark fiber” assets to deliver high-speed internet access to Carroll businesses.
Director of Economic Development Larry Twele noted, “The Maryland broadband grant award reinforces the fact that Maryland and Carroll County are national leaders in building ‘open access’ broadband infrastructure to advance economic development.”
Source: Carroll County Economic Development Newsletter