 Carroll County
Broadband and Comcast Update
Westminster, Thursday, February 23,
2017 – Recently
the Board of County Commissioners (BCC) received updates on Comcast’s new
construction in the county and recommendations from the Carroll County Broadband
Advisory Board.
On
February 23rd, Mark Ripper, Director of Technology Services and Denise Beaver,
Deputy Director of Economic Development informed the Board of County
Commissioners on the status of the Carroll County Broadband Advisory
Board. The Board met four times since
September 2016 to discuss ideas for expanding broadband access to businesses
and residents. Several ideas were presented including branding, membership in Fiber Locator, pursuing private/public
partnerships, dark fiber lease rates and renegotiating BGE/Verizon pole
contracts. After discussion, the BCC
directed the Broadband Advisory Board to move forward in two areas. First, to
pursue membership in the Fiber Locator to list the county’s fiber network asset;
and secondly, to build more points of connection on the Carroll County fiber network.
On
February 9th, Mark Ripper, Director of Technology Services and Carol
Shawver from the Carroll Cable Regulatory Commission updated the commissioners
on the progress of Comcast’s new construction in the county. A new franchise agreement was signed in June
2016 with Comcast and since that agreement; Comcast is way ahead of schedule in
its construction efforts. To date, new builds have passed 445 homes and the current
construction in progress will allow service to 465 more homes to be completed
in the next several months. Access for 102
more homes is required to fulfill the terms of the agreement, which should be
completed within a year. The end result is that Comcast will have exceeded its
commitment to Carroll County in approximately one year, far ahead of the
expected three years. Carroll County
residents who would like more information on Comcast in Carroll County, MD can
contact Carol Shawver at 410-386-2095.
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Watch the discussion here or by clicking the image. |
For additional information, contact:
Contact:
Roberta J. Windham Esq.
410-386-2043
Carroll County Fiber Network Background:
Carroll County is a leader in broadband infrastructure investment through the development of the
Carroll County Fiber Network - a 112 mile “open access” fiber optic network designed to meet the needs
of both the private and public sectors. The fiber optic network is a critical economic development asset
for business attraction and retention which expands broadband coverage areas and provides cost
effective services for businesses and residents. All primary commercial and industrial areas are included
in the network design. Two inter-county connections are planned (Baltimore County at MD 30 and
Howard County at MD 32) to provide network redundancy, further expand the network and attract new
service providers into Carroll County.
Carroll firm Skyline Network Engineering was retained by the Carroll County Public Network Consortium
(Carroll County Government, Carroll County Public Schools, Carroll County Public Library, and Carroll
Community College) to design and build the network. Network construction began in 2007.
Consortium partners provided technology project funding to cover initial network construction costs.
Funding to complete the critical inter-county connections and remaining sites is partially budgeted for in
the Economic Development Infrastructure Investment Fund with the remaining funding allocated
through the Inter-County Broadband Network (ICBN), of which Carroll is a member. The State of
Maryland and the ICBN received a National Telecommunication and Information Administration
infrastructure award to expand Broadband access throughout Maryland.
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