Maryland recently announced its allocation of $19.6 million under a program called the Home Stretch for Difficult-to-Serve Properties to provide proper broadband access to unserved and underserved areas, which was subdivided into 18 jurisdictions.
Out of 18 areas, 11 jurisdictions have chosen Comcast for fast internet availability.
Comcast has emerged as the primary recipient of funding, securing exclusive rights in Baltimore and six counties.
Additionally, Comcast will share funding with other providers in four additional counties.
Two other major providers, Breezeline and Charter, received smaller amounts of funding, each chosen for only one county and on a shared basis with other providers.
Apart from this, ThinkBig, a local fiber broadband provider, will solemnly serve two counties.
Most of the remaining funding recipients are local fiber providers, reflecting a trend toward supporting smaller, community-based broadband initiatives.
The broadband funding allocations in Maryland are distributed among various entities to facilitate broadband infrastructure development.
Here’s a breakdown of the recipients and their respective jurisdictions:
- Breezeline: Selected as a provider in one jurisdiction, operating on a shared basis with other providers.
- Charter: Chosen as a provider in one jurisdiction, also operating on a shared basis with other providers.
- Choptank Fiber: Designated as the sole provider in one jurisdiction and will operate on a shared basis with other providers in four additional jurisdictions.
- Comcast: Selected as the sole provider in seven jurisdictions and will share funding with other providers in four jurisdictions.
- Easton: Designated as the sole provider in one jurisdiction.
- QCOL: Selected as the sole provider in one jurisdiction.
- Queen Anne’s: Designated as the sole provider in one jurisdiction.
- Simple Fiber: Chosen as a provider in two jurisdictions, operating on a shared basis with other providers.
- Talkie: Selected as a provider in four jurisdictions, also operating on a shared basis with other providers.
- ThinkBig: Designated as the sole provider in two jurisdictions.
Here is the list of the providers and their respective areas:
- Allegany: Comcast, QCOL, Talkie
- Anne Arundel: Comcast
- Baltimore: Comcast
- Calvert: Comcast
- Carroll: Comcast
- Cecil: Breezeline, Comcast, Talkie, Choptank Fiber
- Charles: Comcast
- Dorchester: Choptank Fiber
- Frederick: Comcast
- Garrett: QCOL
- Harford: ThinkBig
- Kent: ThinkBig
- Montgomery: Comcast
- Queen Anne’s: Queen Anne’s
- Somerset: Choptank Fiber, Spectrum Southeast, Comcast
- Talbot: Easton
- Wicomico: Choptank Fiber, Comcast, Simple Fiber, Talkie
- Worcester: Choptank Fiber, Simple Fiber, Talkie
A quick overview of the Maryland broadband program:
Maryland’s Home Stretch for Difficult-to-Serve Properties program is aimed to connect approximately 2,400 locations.
Each location can receive up to $8,000, with areas or network companies covering 25% of the costs.
These “unserved locations” currently lack adequate speeds (100 Mbps download and 20 Mbps upload). Funded projects must provide at least 100 Mbps for both download and upload speeds.
The funding is also used to build connections from hard-to-reach premises to existing networks, including minor infrastructure extensions.
Grants can cover up to 75% of project costs, with a maximum of $1,100,000 per project and up to $8,000 per location. Projects must reliably deliver 100 Mbps symmetrical speeds, with some exceptions allowed.
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