Eighteen Maryland jurisdictions will share $19.6 million to go toward the cost of high-speed broadband deployments to locations that don’t have service. Rules for the program, known as the Home Stretch for Difficult to Serve Properties program, call for funding to go directly to the jurisdictions.
Seventeen of the jurisdictions will receive $1.1 million in funding through the program and one will receive $929,100.
Of the 18 jurisdictions, 17 are counties. The other is Baltimore.
Funding for the Home Stretch for Difficult to Serve Properties program came through the federal Capital Projects Fund (CPF) program. Maryland allotted over $24.2 million for the program, representing 14% of its CPF funding.
At least one additional funding round is planned for the program.
As part of the application process, the 18 jurisdictions were required to designate the network operators with whom they plan to work. Telecompetitor has reached out to the state to ask for information about the chosen operators and will publish an update whenever we hear back.
Maryland Broadband Deployments
Approximately 2,400 unserved locations are expected to be funded in the first round of the Home Stretch for Difficult to Serve Properties program. The maximum amount of funding per location is $8,000. Matching funds covering at least 25% of eligible project costs are required.
The matching funds can come from the jurisdiction or the network operator.
Unserved locations are those lacking broadband service at speeds of 100 Mbps downstream and 20 Mbps upstream with latency at or below 50ms. Funded deployments must support service at 100 Mbps symmetrical speeds (although some exceptions may be made).
A list of jurisdictions awarded funding can be found at this link.
Additional information about Maryland broadband, including links to state funding resources, awards made, state specific Telecompetitor coverage and more, can be found on the Telecompetitor Broadband Nation webpage for the state.
