Monday, November 9th, 2009
By Rahul Gaitonde, Reporter, BroadbandCensus.com
WASHINGTON, November 9, 2009 - On Friday, the National Telecommunications and Information Administration announced seven new state recipients of the state broadband data and development grant program. These grants fund state efforts to map broadband availability and speeds. Each state was asked to pick a designated entity – either a state body or a non-profit organization – that would develop a plan for how broadband mapping would be conducted.
Of the seven states awarded grants on Friday, two choose to fully internalize their process and have state agencies control the mapping.
In Alabama, the Alabama Department of Economic and Community Affairs was tasked; they received $1.4 million for broadband data collection and mapping activities and $463,000 for broadband planning activities both for over a two- year period.
In Washington State, the Department of Information Services received $1.7 million for data collection and mapping and almost $500,000 for broadband planning activities both for over a two-year period.
Wyoming and Idaho, by contrast, choose to contract their mapping to the Puget Sound Center for Teaching, Learning and Technology, a Seattle based non-profit. Wyoming received $1.3 million for data collection and mapping over a two-year period and $500,000 for broadband planning activities...
Read More »
Thursday, September 11th, 2008
Broadband Census Maryland
By Drew Bennett, Special Correspondent, BroadbandCensus.com
This is the 12th of a series of articles surveying the state of broadband, and broadband data, within each of the United States.
September 11 - Being a first-mover is a blessing and a curse. When it comes to state-led broadband initiatives, Maryland has been an early innovator at confronting the long road towards state-wide universal broadband access.
Among the most recent accomplishments for the state was, two months ago, Gov. Martin O’Malley’s approval of a license allowing the Maryland Broadband Cooperative to begin installing broadband fiber up the eastern shore of Maryland and across the Chesapeake Bay Bridge.
It’s another milestone in a road that is now over a decade long.
In 1998, the Maryland General Assembly created the Maryland Technology Development Corporation (TEDCO) “as a public instrumentality of the state” and tasked it with funding technology-focused programs and initiatives contributing to Maryland’s economic and business development.
By 2002, TEDCO had completed a comprehensive state-wide eReadiness study. It led to TEDCO’s recommendation that Maryland develop a broadband task force to address deficits in broadband connectivity in rural parts of the state. The legislature accepted TEDCO’s recommendation, approving funding for the Task Force for the Development of...
Read More »