92 Million Dollar Broadband Expansion in Maryland

Governor Wes Moore received a 92 million dollar state grant to expand the high speed broadband internet for all underserved counties of Maryland.  The funding will go to low income communities around Maryland in rural communities who are on the edge of county lines.

Secretary of Housing & Community Development Jake Day spoke on how this will help rural residents across the state.

“We’ve got people in those areas that are not connected,” Day said. They are reliant on either satellite or cellular service for their internet. That’s obviously low speed, low download and upload speed and need to be connected.”

25 Million dollars is going to the long driveway program that will allow for fiber optic cable installation for households in rural communities on the edge of the county lines.

“Most Families can’t come up with that funding easily, and even if they could, it’s an investment to make when you and I think of internet as a cost of a monthly bill, not a 30 thousand dollar bill in addition to that,” Day said.

Day says this funding will help bridge the digital divide for low income families

“Once they have access to broad band internet, once they have access to devices, they are understanding how to use the internet and navigate it in a way that there is no more barriers left between them and the benefits of participating in the digital economy,” Day said.