SALISBURY – A regional broadband company has been awarded $9.8 million to develop broadband internet service in Wicomico County.
Last Friday, Gov. Larry Hogan announced the Office of Statewide Broadband, through the Connect Maryland initiative, had awarded more than $127.6 million in grant funding to local jurisdictions, internet service providers and community organizations in an effort to increase high-speed internet access and affordability.
Among the list of award recipients was Talkie Communications, a Chestertown, Md., company, which will use $9,817,497 to build out fiber-optic broadband internet service in Wicomico County’s unserved areas.
“With support from the Wicomico County Executive’s Office, Talkie Communications applied for and has been awarded grant funding from the Maryland Office of Statewide Broadband to construct fiber-optic broadband internet service in Wicomico County, Md,” a statement from the executive’s office reads. “The coordination between Wicomico County’s Executive Office, the Maryland Office of Statewide Broadband and Talkie Communications will make broadband internet service available for purchase to more than 700 homes and businesses that are currently unserved in Wicomico County.”
While the project is expected to cost an estimated $13.3 million, officials say no county funds will be used, as Talkie Communications would pay the unfunded balance of $3.5 million. Once started, the project is estimated to take up to three years to complete.
“This grant award will significantly enhance the ability to provide broadband internet service availability to unserved residences and businesses here in Wicomico County and we will continue to explore additional opportunities,” said John Psota, Wicomico’s acting county executive.
The governor’s office noted the $127 million in broadband funding was made possible through four grant programs – the Neighborhood Connect Broadband Grant Program, the Connected Communities Program, the Maryland Emergency Education Relief Grant and the Connect Maryland Network Infrastructure Grant Program.
“Last summer, we supercharged our broadband investment with the launch of Connect Maryland, for a total new investment of $400 million for the expansion of broadband access, and to fully address the digital divide for everyone all across our state,” Hogan said. “As a result of these efforts, broadband is now available to well over 95% of Marylanders, and a new national survey ranked Maryland as the most improved state in America for business and they cited our progress on infrastructure and broadband access as a part of that success.”
He continued, “Our goal is to ensure universal broadband to everyone in every single corner of the state. Connect Maryland is the game-changing initiative that is going to help us get there, and it is one more way that we are changing Maryland for the better.”
Grants awarded through the latest round of funding will help provide broadband service to an estimated 15,000 households that are currently unserved or underserved while specific education grants will both expand infrastructure and provide wireless devices and equipment to Maryland’s K-12 students, according to the governor’s office.
Created by executive order in 2017, the Office of Rural Broadband, housed in the Maryland Department of Housing and Community Development, was established to expand broadband capabilities statewide in underserved, rural areas of Maryland.
Recognizing that there are different needs beyond rural areas and that different solutions may be needed, it was re-codified as the Office of Statewide Broadband in 2021, to ensure that all Maryland households that want broadband have access to it.
To date, the office has invested approximately $195.7 million dollars into broadband infrastructure and access projects and programs.
