Maryland Counties Submit $100 Million Broadband Stimulus Application

The One Maryland Broadband (OMB) Plan, being led by Howard County's IT Director Ira Levy, has submitted its application to the National Telecommunications and Information Administration for $100 million of federal stimulus money set-aside for fiber optic projects. The "One Maryland" group consists of all of the central Maryland counties: Baltimore, Howard, Anne Arundel, Harford, Carroll, Prince George's, Montgomery and Frederick, plus Baltimore City and Annapolis. The One Maryland middle mile project will create a cohesive fiber optic network interconnecting over 800 community anchor institutions across a wide swath of the State of Maryland. The proposed network seeks to address an opportunity to unite rural, urban and suburban communities in one contiguous local government network across the State. The benefits of this interconnection are numerous and substantial, especially as they relate to sharing resources and knowledge among public schools, libraries and public safety entities. The One Maryland application included 28 letters of support and 14 letters of interest from both public and private sector partners who have been working with the OMB developing this plan.