Governor Wes Moore announced $19.6 million in Fiscal Year 2024 awards through a new Maryland Department of Housing and Community Development program to help more Marylanders access high-speed, affordable internet. Home Stretch for Difficult to Serve Properties, administered by the department’s Office of Statewide Broadband, will provide internet access to approximately 2,400 unserved Maryland households in its first round.
Home Stretch for Difficult to Serve Properties funds help address distance from broadband infrastructure or other geographic issues that may discourage an ISP from delivering broadband service. In the first round, 18 jurisdictions received awards and every jurisdiction that applied for the program received funds.
Home Stretch for Difficult to Serve Properties is part of the department’s new initiative to serve remaining Maryland households without internet access. As of April, 21,000 Maryland households are unserved. Awards for the second program under the initiative, Home Stretch for Public Housing, will be announced in the coming weeks.
Funded through the U.S. Treasury’s American Rescue Plan Coronavirus Capital Projects Fund, both programs are the newest additions to the Office of Statewide Broadband’s Connect Maryland initiative, which provides financial assistance to local jurisdictions to advance the state’s digital access efforts.
“To leave no one behind, we need to get everyone online – especially those who have been historically beyond the reach of traditional efforts to narrow the digital divide,” said Moore. “By moving in partnership, we are extending broadband access to more Marylanders, meeting people where they are, and creating new pathways to prosperity for all.”
By Leslie Stimson, Inside Towers Washington Bureau Chief
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