August 30th, 2019 by WCBC Radio
Representative David Trone and U.S. Senators Ben Cardin and Chris Van Hollen (all D-Md.) announced that they will hold a roundtable on rural broadband with FCC Commissioner Geoffrey Starks in Hagerstown, Maryland on Sept. 5th.
The roundtable will include stakeholders for a discussion on increasing access to rural broadband and the importance of cyber security. The roundtable comes just after the trio announced $2.9 million in funding for broadband expansion in Garrett County.
WHAT: Rural Broadband Roundtable with FCC Commissioner Geoffrey Starks
WHEN: Thursday, September 5, 2019
10:00am – 12:00pm
WHERE: Burobox Entrepreneur Resource Center
60 W Washington St, Hagerstown, MD 21740
WHO: Congressman David Trone
Senator Ben Cardin
Senator Chris Van Hollen
Geoffrey Starks, FCC Commissioner
Kendrick Gordon, Director, Maryland Office of Rural Broadband
Denise Lovelady, State Director of Delaware and Maryland USDA Rural Development
Additional local, regional, and statewide stakeholders
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August 31, 2019 at 9:14 am, mac said:
Rather than sit in Hagerstown and discuss the issue why not go to Ft. Collins Co. and see the city owned and operated fiber broadband.
It’s 1GB down, and 1GB up for $60 a month.
September 02, 2019 at 9:35 am, Ken said:
Mac, While I am a huge proponent of municipal broadband, getting one put in place can be a nightmare. Typically, the entrenched telco and cable companies will mount an all-out offensive against any such efforts, as you would expect. These PR campaigns also resonate with those who believe nothing government can do is as good a private industry. This after more than two decades of private broadband roll outs which have largely failed to deploy much of anything in our rural locations.
Instead, what we see is money being made available for those who have a demonstrated ability to build out these networks, which is little more than giving the large broadband operators a subsidy.