By Jack Chavez, Staff Writer
(April 20, 2023) More state funding is coming to Worcester County to expand access to broadband for rural residents.
On April 5, Gov. Wes Moore announced that the state is awarding about $92 million to expand access to around 14,500 households and businesses across the state through the Connect Maryland initiative.
“Internet access is essential for Marylanders to have a pathway to receive critical information, be involved with their communities and participate in the local economy,” Moore said in a statement. “These awards help ensure that the infrastructure exists to make Maryland more equitable.”
About $4.5 million of that money is going to Talkie Communications for 319 homes in Worcester County.
Andre DeMattia, who owns Talkie with his twin brother Andrew, said in an email that the funding comes as part of a three-year plan to complete areas that include Pocomoke City, Girdletree, Stockton, Newark, Bishopville, Whaleyville and parts of the Nassawango Hills area.
The total cost to provide internet access to all unserved county residents is about $70 million, he said.
DeMattia said Talkie has secured “over $100 million” in grant funding to extend fiber optic internet to 15 Maryland counties and three in Delaware. The money consists of state, federal and county funds and is meant for areas where “wireless solutions are the only available option.”
“Our priority is to target these underserved regions first before overbuilding,” he said.
So far, about 52,000 rural homes in Maryland have been connected to broadband through state initiatives.
“Broadband is the utility that will determine economic outcomes in much the same way water and sewer systems have been for the past 150 years,” Maryland Department of Housing and Community Development Secretary Jake Day said in a statement. “Full participation in the digital economy is essential for resolving inequities for countless Marylanders and the Office of Statewide Broadband is committed to closing the digital divide.”
Choptank Electric Cooperative also received funding from the grant for Worcester County, earning about $2.3 million for 243 homes.