MD hopes to make broadband Internet more accessible with partnership, $267 million in funding

Maryland is trying to help more people afford broadband Internet with the help of a national nonprofit focused on connecting people to the Internet and with hundreds of millions of dollars in federal funding, state and federal officials said Tuesday.

By working with EducationSuperHighway, which has connected schools across the country to broadband and is now focused on helping low-income families afford it, Governor Wes Moore and his administration hope to raise awareness of the resources available to Marylanders for whom reliable internet is too expensive.

Affordability is actually the biggest part of the digital divide today, EducationSuperHighway CEO Evan Marwell said Tuesday during a press conference at the Michael E. Busch Annapolis Library, which offers digital literacy classes and community partnerships to educate people about broadband resources.

Tens of millions of low-income families across the country are eligible for a $30 a month discount on their Internet bill through the federal Affordable Connectivity Program. But, according to EducationSuperHighway, the percentage of families taking part in the program is extremely low.

You could install all the infrastructure you want. But if people can’t afford to get themselves and their families online, what’s the point? Moore said during the press conference.

In addition to the Affordable Connectivity Program, the Maryland state government offers a $15 monthly rebate on Internet utility, meaning low-income people in the state are eligible for $45 towards their bill.

Moore said the program is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to build broadband network infrastructure in unconnected communities across our state, both urban and rural.

There are approximately 780,000 Maryland households who are eligible for the discount, but only 28% receive it.

Lack of broadband access can be seen as a problem predominantly affecting rural communities; the state’s Office of Statewide Broadband was the Office of Rural Broadband.

But Baltimore is the jurisdiction with the most families enrolled in the Affordability Connectivity Program and the jurisdiction with the most eligible families not using the program, followed by Dundalk and Silver Spring.

U.S. Deputy Secretary of Commerce Don Graves said Tuesday that places without a reliable internet connection can include a farm that can’t harvest using modern tools, a fledgling small business stuck in an analog age, an elderly or disabled person cut off from telehealth services, or a student who misses out on a life-changing opportunity.

In late June, the Biden administration pledged tens of billions of dollars to expand broadband Internet access.

Maryland was awarded approximately $267 million, an amount based on the number of households and businesses in the state without broadband Internet access.

Neighboring states Virginia, Pennsylvania and West Virginia each received more than $1 billion in funding, and Delaware received about $108 million, according to the US Department of Commerce.

Tuesday’s press conference is part of a statewide push to bring broadband to the state’s remaining unserved households.

Maryland counties have announced in recent weeks how they will use an earlier round of state grants to expand high-speed Internet access.

The Maryland Office of Statewide Broadband has awarded 35 grants totaling $92 million to help cover $143 million in total project costs.

The projects are expected to connect approximately 14,500 homes and businesses to reliable Internet in the 20 of Maryland’s 24 major local jurisdictions that received the grants.

c