"This $2 million will ensure that installation of the Rural Broadband Initiative will continue without interruption and ahead of schedule," said O'Malley. "Broadband access will improve the lives of all Marylanders on the Eastern Shore and in Southern Maryland, and give our rural businesses the tools they need to compete in a global marketplace."
"Through the efforts of Governor O'Malley and the secretaries of the Department of Business and Economic Development and the Maryland Department of Transportation, the Maryland Broadband Cooperative is quickly building an infrastructure that will allow private Internet service providers and wireless Internet service providers to reach our homes and businesses," said John A. Dillman III, president of the Maryland Broadband Cooperative.
The Rural Broadband Communication bill (SB 753) was signed in May 2006 to bring access to fiber-optic lines to the nine counties on the Eastern Shore and the three counties in Southern Maryland. An Internet Point of Presence (POP) will be located in each county along this new fiber line, focusing on connecting business and industrial parks.
The need for broadband on the Eastern Shore and Southern Maryland was a key finding in the Maryland Technology Development Corporation's (TEDCO) 2003 report. Despite the fact that Maryland ranks above most states in both the deployment and usage of information and communication technologies, the report found that households and businesses in Western Maryland, Southern Maryland and the Eastern Shore lag behind other areas in their rate of access and usage of high-speed communications.