Governor Moore announced $19.6 million in Fiscal Year 2024 awards through a new Maryland Department of Housing and Community Development program to help more Marylanders access high-speed, affordable internet.
Home Stretch for Difficult to Serve Properties, administered by the department’s Office of Statewide Broadband, will provide internet access to approximately 2,400 unserved Maryland households in its first round.
“To leave no one behind, we need to get everyone online – especially those who have been historically beyond the reach of traditional efforts to narrow the digital divide,” said Gov. Moore. “By moving in partnership, we are extending broadband access to more Marylanders, meeting people where they are, and creating new pathways to prosperity for all.”
Home Stretch for Difficult to Serve Properties is part of the department’s new initiative to serve remaining Maryland households without internet access. As of April 2024, 21,000 Maryland households are unserved. Awards for the second program under the initiative, Home Stretch for Public Housing, will be announced in the coming weeks.
Funded through the U.S. Treasury’s American Rescue Plan Coronavirus Capital Projects Fund, both programs are the newest additions to the Office of Statewide Broadband’s Connect Maryland initiative, which provides financial assistance to local jurisdictions to advance the state’s digital access efforts.
“Access to high-speed internet is essential to building equitable pathways to economic, educational, and social opportunities for all Marylanders,” said Maryland Department of Housing and Community Development Secretary Jake Day. “These funds will help the Office of Statewide Broadband partner with local governments and internet service providers to close critical, ‘home stretch’ gaps in their broadband infrastructure to provide that essential access for unserved homes in their communities.”
Home Stretch for Difficult to Serve Properties funds help address distance from broadband infrastructure or other geographic issues that may discourage an internet service provider from delivering broadband service.
In the first round, 18 jurisdictions received awards and every jurisdiction that applied for the program received funds. To view a full list of awards for Home Stretch for Difficult to Serve Properties, visit the Department of Housing and Community Development’s website
The Office of Statewide Broadband works to ensure that all Maryland households have access to broadband through its programs to expand infrastructure and increase digital equity.
Since the office was created in 2017, it has invested more than $270 million into broadband infrastructure and programs. Those efforts have provided high-speed internet access to an estimated 52,000 previously unserved homes and businesses statewide.
For more information on the Home Stretch initiative and the Office of Statewide Broadband, visit dhcd.maryland.gov/Broadband.
