Comcast was awarded approximately $14.4 million, Verizon was awarded approximately $11 million and Shentel was awarded approximately $9.3 million in broadband funding from the state of Maryland this week. But they weren’t the biggest winners announced.
Quantum Telecommunications Inc., a competitive provider established in 1995, is set to receive approximately $15.3 million and Choptank Electric Co-operative is set to receive approximately $16 million.
Also winning funding were Talkie Communications, Bay Country Communications and Hartford County/ Think Big Networks.
The awards were made through the Connect Maryland Infrastructure Grant Program, which is administered by the Office of State Broadband. A total of $92 million was awarded, and providers will contribute additional funding for total project costs of approximately $143 million, according to a press release about the Maryland broadband funding awards.
The projects will make broadband available to 14,500 homes and businesses.
Comcast has been winning a lot of money through state broadband programs and Verizon had a funding win recently in Delaware. Talkie also is a broadband funding veteran, having previously won funding through the Rural Digital Opportunity Fund program.
A list of the winners does not indicate what technology the winners plan to deploy, but Verizon and Shentel are likely to deploy fiber broadband. Comcast sometimes deploys fiber and sometimes deploys hybrid fiber coax/DOCSIS infrastructure.
Unfortunately for us folks way out in rural areas on tertiary road systems will be left out or left with copper land lines. Specially if you live outside Westminster in Carroll County. Because the density of homes are spread far apart the big corporates have to interest in reaching us.