Md. Jurisdictions Seek Funds for Broadband Boost

$100 Million Requested From Stimulus Pool

Montgomery, Prince George's and Howard counties and eight other Maryland jurisdictions are seeking $100 million in federal stimulus funds to expand their broadband Internet capabilities, an effort aimed at boosting productivity at local businesses and improving the emergency network for public safety agencies.

The 11 jurisdictions are seeking funds primarily to give schools, libraries and government agencies greater access to online videos, teleconferencing and downloads through speedier high-capacity connections. The money also would be used to build dedicated phone and data lines for public safety use during a disaster, an attempt to avert the communications problems experienced in New York and Washington during the terrorist attacks on Sept. 11, 2001.

Leaders of the government consortium argue that the effort could have broader economic benefits. Hundreds of jobs would be created to install about 600 miles of fiber-optic wires across the region, they say. And broadband companies would probably step in to extend the service from the streets to homes and businesses, they say, perhaps offering a lower-cost alternative to satellite providers.

"We're looking at rural businesses. We have family farms -- only half of them have Web sites," said Mitsuko Herrera, cable and broadband administrator in Montgomery County. "Once you get fiber optics, you can build a Web site . . . to match people who grow locally with people who want to eat local food."

Not everyone thinks the program would be the wisest use of taxpayer dollars.

Marta Mossburg, senior fellow at the Maryland Public Policy Institute, said that the program could cost jurisdictions more money in the long run and that there's no guarantee it would create jobs. "Like all stimulus dollars, who's going to pay for the maintenance and upkeep [of the fiber optics] when the federal dollars run out?" she said.

Moreover, Mossburg added, "when the money comes from the federal government, there's a lack of accountability," but when it comes directly from the local government, "it's easy to track."

Arunas Slekys, vice president for corporate marketing at Hughes Network Systems in Germantown, which provides satellite broadband service to 470,000 customers nationwide, said the fiber-optic connections are not very cost-effective -- particularly in rural areas where fewer potential subscribers are widely separated. And he said satellite broadband is better for public safety officials in certain emergencies.

"The things that get knocked out in hurricanes are telephone and cable," Slekys said, whereas satellites are "immune to natural disasters on the ground."

The jurisdictions seeking federal stimulus funding are Prince George's, Montgomery, Howard, Charles, St. Mary's, Anne Arundel, Frederick, Baltimore and Carroll counties as well as the cities of Annapolis and Baltimore. The communities, according to officials, would contribute $30 million, bringing the total investment to $130 million. The District and jurisdictions in Northern Virginia are not part of the consortium because their public safety agencies already have been connected to one another and a nationwide network through money from the Department of Homeland Security.

The federal government has allocated $7.2 billion in the stimulus package to extend broadband access to underserved areas of the country.

Ira A. Levy, director of technology and communications services for Howard County, who heads the multi-jurisdictional group, said the money would upgrade Internet service and connect 866 schools, libraries, senior centers, 911 centers, hospitals, fire stations and government buildings.

Currently the communities are working independently, he said, but the broadband proposal "allows us to realize the true benefits of a comprehensive system."

Herrera, the Montgomery County broadband administrator, said the county would use the federal grant to hook up low-income and elderly residents in public housing as well as libraries and schools. Montgomery also would beef up security at schools, allowing police to monitor live streams of video from security cameras, she said.

Prince George's County is proposing to spend $17 million of the money to install DSL fiber optics mainly in the southern part of the county, said spokesman James P. Keary.

"The stimulus money is designed to quickly employ people for the construction projects -- laying the fiber optics and connecting them to businesses and homes," Keary said. "If you have a fiber-optic network for [businesses] to communicate with their clients or with their sub-offices in a quick manner, they're going to be attracted" to the county, he said.