Broadband expansion brings points of connection to remote Maryland homes, businesses

Dwight A. Weingarten, Salisbury Daily Times
·3 min read

The town of Hancock in Western Maryland is notable for being in the narrowest part of the state, sandwiched between Pennsylvania and West Virginia in a 1.8-mile stretch, but the world could get a little wider for residents after broadband internet comes to town after receiving federal grants.

“It’s going to open up so many other opportunities,” said Hancock Mayor Tim Smith, a lifelong resident, who described the connection in town as “pretty decent,” with certain parts slow.

Now, over 470 homes, 10 businesses, and 44 miles of fiber will be getting connected in Washington County during the next year, said Ilya Hemlin, a spokesperson for Verizon, in a phone interview.

In this file photo, Mayor of Hancock Tim Smith speaks during a public hearing Wednesday, May 26, 2021, at Hancock Middle-Senior High School with members of Washington County Board of Education about the proposed closure of Hancock Middle-Senior High School. In an April 2023 interview, Smith said expanded internet connection could increase opportunities, especially for the younger generation.

The majority of the connections will be in Washington County’s western part, west of Hancock, said Hemlin, with the coverage area forming a triangle between Hancock, Woodmont and Bellegrove, an unincorporated area in Allegany County. The company’s total project cost in the county is $2.1 million, the Verizon spokesman said.

Almost half of that ($1 million) comes from funding received through the federal American Rescue Plan Act passed in 2021. Those funds are dispersed through the Maryland Office of Statewide Broadband, according to an April release that shows nearly $92 million in grants spread across 18 other of the state’s 24 jurisdictions.

Wicomico County, other jurisdictions set to benefit too

Another jurisdiction with many new potential hookups from the most recent round of grants is Wicomico County, which is set to have over 1,200 homes and businesses connected by Choptank Electric Cooperative, Inc., a Denton-based organization, headquartered in Caroline County. Over a third of the nearly $10 million project in Wicomico is funded by a grant. A native son put the broadband buildout in perspective from his perch in state government.

“Broadband is the utility that will determine economic outcomes in much the same way water and sewer systems have been for the past 150 years,” said Maryland Department of Housing and Community Development Secretary Jake Day, a Wicomico County native and the former Mayor of Salisbury, in a release.

Jake Day announces his resignation as Salisbury Mayor Tuesday, Jan. 17, 2023, at the City of Salisbury Council Chambers in Salisbury, Maryland. Day was appointed as Maryland's next Secretary of Housing and Community Development.
Jake Day announces his resignation as Salisbury Mayor Tuesday, Jan. 17, 2023, at the City of Salisbury Council Chambers in Salisbury, Maryland. Day was appointed as Maryland's next Secretary of Housing and Community Development.

About 1,200 locations in the counties of Charles, Cecil, Howard and St. Mary’s are set to be connected by Verizon. Garrett County, the state’s Western most jurisdiction, also has the company set to connect over 2,000 total homes and businesses in the county through a $10 million project, of which about $3.9 million is grant-funded.

“We will be able to connect over one-third of our unserved addresses through this one project,” said Garrett County Commissioner Paul Edwards, son of former state Sen. George Edwards, in a Verizon release. Comcast also is set to connect a few hundred homes and businesses in a smaller Garrett County project, which also received grant funding.

Governor says grants will make Maryland more equitable

“These awards help ensure that the infrastructure exists to make Maryland more equitable,” said Gov. Wes Moore, in a release. Internet infrastructure grants of a similar size were announced last summer by Moore’s predecessor, Gov. Larry Hogan, who also made use of the federal funds.

“A lot of work is happening,” said Somerset County Engineer John Redden, Jr., providing an update on a couple projects currently underway in the state’s southern most jurisdiction. Choptank’s CEO pledged last year that the work on their Somerset projects would be complete before the start of the 2023 school year.

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For the kids, who completed homework on the county’s buses during the pandemic school closures, those connections could be cost-prohibitive for their families, but also quite valuable for their futures.

Similarly in Western Maryland, Hancock’s Mayor Smith is hopeful for what the connections could mean.

“It’s definitely going to change for the better because as the younger generation comes into the workforce,” he said, “it’s going to be so many different opportunities.”

Dwight A. Weingarten is an investigative reporter, covering the Maryland State House and state issues. He can be reached at dweingarten@gannett.com or on Twitter at @DwightWeingart2.

This article originally appeared on Salisbury Daily Times: Broadband expansion connects remote points on Shore, Western Maryland