Gov. Larry Hogan announced that applications are open for $95 million in funding to expand high-speed Internet access across the state through Connect Maryland, an initiative to supercharge the state’s investment in broadband and address the digital divide.
Through the program, a historic $400 million in funding has been dedicated to addressing broadband access in unserved and underserved communities.
The Connect Maryland Network Infrastructure Grant Program provides between $800,000 and $4.5 million to local jurisdictions or their Internet service provider partners to construct new broadband networks to service unserved households. The program requires matching funds.
Last year, Hogan, Senate President Bill Ferguson and House Speaker Adrienne Jones announced $400 million to ensure universal broadband access for Maryland, which includes a $300 million investment as part of a bipartisan budget agreement to allocate federal funding from the American Rescue Plan Act.
To date, the office has invested approximately $200 million dollars into broadband infrastructure and access projects and programs, and those efforts have provided high-speed internet access to an estimated 30,000 unserved households statewide. For more information, visit https://dhcd.maryland.gov/ Broadband.