{"id":11816,"date":"2023-11-20T11:59:47","date_gmt":"2023-11-20T16:59:47","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/news.maryland.gov\/dhcd\/?p=11816"},"modified":"2023-11-20T11:59:49","modified_gmt":"2023-11-20T16:59:49","slug":"state-of-maryland-seeking-public-comment-on-draft-plans-to-achieve-digital-equity-and-connect-all-marylanders-to-high-speed-internet-access","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/news.maryland.gov\/dhcd\/2023\/11\/20\/state-of-maryland-seeking-public-comment-on-draft-plans-to-achieve-digital-equity-and-connect-all-marylanders-to-high-speed-internet-access\/","title":{"rendered":"State of Maryland Seeking Public Comment on Draft Plans to Achieve Digital Equity and Connect All Marylanders to High-Speed Internet Access"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

ANNAPOLIS, MD<\/strong>\u00a0\u2013 Governor Wes Moore today announced that the\u00a0Maryland Office of Statewide Broadband<\/a>\u00a0has developed\u00a0drafts of the state\u2019s plans<\/a>\u00a0to connect all Marylanders to high-speed internet access and achieve digital equity. Marylanders are encouraged to submit feedback on the drafts during the public comment period, which ends December 2.<\/p>\n

\u201cHigh-speed internet access is an essential tool for Marylanders to succeed, providing the opportunities to participate in your community, apply for jobs and receive important information,\u201d\u00a0said Gov. Moore.<\/strong>\u00a0\u201cWe will ensure every single Marylander has access to affordable and reliable internet, as well as the resources to be able to connect, and the state\u2019s five-year plans are a roadmap to get us there.\u201d<\/p>\n

The documents outline broadband infrastructure deployment and digital equity initiatives to achieve the Moore-Miller Administration\u2019s vision of providing equitable access to the internet for all Marylanders. The input collected during the public comment period will be reviewed before the documents are finalized and submitted to the\u00a0National Telecommunications and Information Administration<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The Office of Statewide Broadband, housed in the Maryland Department of Housing and Community Development, developed the plans as a framework to determine future federal funding for broadband infrastructure and access initiatives as part of President Joseph R. Biden\u2019s Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act. The Office of Statewide Broadband hosted public webinars and outreach conferences this past spring to inform the plans.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Guided by the\u00a0Broadband Equity, Access and Distribution plan<\/a>, the Office of Statewide Broadband developed\u00a0an initial proposal<\/a>, which outlines the deployment of\u00a0$267 million in funding<\/a>. The five-year\u00a0Digital Equity plan<\/a>\u00a0outlines how the state will equip citizens with the knowledge and resources to navigate the digital landscape, access online resources, and protect their privacy and security. The plan will also inform the National Telecommunications Information Administration\u2019s allocation to the state for implementation of digital equity initiatives.<\/p>\n

\u201cBroadband is critical to producing equitable economic outcomes for Maryland families,\u201d\u00a0said Maryland Department of Housing and Community Development Secretary Jake Day.<\/strong>\u00a0\u201cThrough these plans, the state will be able to close much of the digital divide and resolve inequities through the strategic deployment of funding from National Telecommunications and Information Administration\u2019s investment in Maryland\u2019s broadband programs.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

Since the Maryland Department of Housing and Community Development\u2019s Office of Statewide Broadband was founded in 2017, it has invested more than $300 million into broadband infrastructure and equity programs. That investment has provided high-speed internet access to an estimated 52,000 previously unserved homes and businesses statewide.\u00a0<\/p>\n

To review the plans and provide comments, visit\u00a0https:\/\/dhcd.maryland.gov\/Broadband\/Pages\/StatePlans.aspx<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n

###<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

ANNAPOLIS, MD\u00a0\u2013 Governor Wes Moore today announced that the\u00a0Maryland Office of Statewide Broadband\u00a0has developed\u00a0drafts of the state\u2019s plans\u00a0to connect all Marylanders to high-speed internet access and achieve digital equity. Marylanders are encouraged to submit feedback on the drafts during the public comment period, which ends December 2. \u201cHigh-speed internet access is an essential tool for  Read the Rest…<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":242,"featured_media":11818,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[33,1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-11816","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-press-releases","category-uncategorized"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.maryland.gov\/dhcd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11816","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.maryland.gov\/dhcd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.maryland.gov\/dhcd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.maryland.gov\/dhcd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/242"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.maryland.gov\/dhcd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=11816"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/news.maryland.gov\/dhcd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11816\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":11817,"href":"https:\/\/news.maryland.gov\/dhcd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11816\/revisions\/11817"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.maryland.gov\/dhcd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/11818"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.maryland.gov\/dhcd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=11816"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.maryland.gov\/dhcd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=11816"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.maryland.gov\/dhcd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=11816"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}