Trone, Cardin, Van Hollen Host Rural Broadband Roundtable in Hagerstown with FCC Commissioner Geoffrey Starks and 43 Federal, State and Local Stakeholders

Statement

Today, Representative David Trone and U.S. Senators Ben Cardin and Chris Van Hollen (all D-Md.) hosted a roundtable on rural broadband with FCC Commissioner Geoffrey Starks in Hagerstown, Maryland.

The roundtable included 43 federal, state, and local 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.

"Broadband isn't a luxury - it's a necessity. In order to bring businesses and jobs to Western Maryland, we must have broadband access in every community," said Rep. David Trone. "Just like our country invested in electricity and roads across America, access to broadband should be mandatory in every home to close the homework gaps, healthcare gaps, and economic development gaps. Today we discussed how we can work together to bring federal funding to build this critical infrastructure in Western Maryland."

"Broadband is a critical public utility and a mandatory resource for the success of any community. Local schools, businesses, farmers and others all rely on dependable online access," said Senator Cardin. "Its expansion throughout rural Maryland is long overdue. I am excited to see how the federal government continues to invest in the last mile connections for our residents, businesses, and students."

"Expanding access to broadband opens doors of opportunity for the entire community, including students, small business owners, healthcare providers and first responders," said Senator Van Hollen. "This community roundtable gave us an opportunity to talk directly with the people most impacted and highlighted the importance of providing 100% broadband access. Working together, we will keep fighting to address the challenges rural areas face and expand educational and economic opportunities throughout Western Maryland."

"One of my top priorities at the FCC is to make sure that we do everything within our power to get affordable, secure, high speed broadband to every person in this country - and end the internet inequality that exists in rural areas of Maryland and too many others," said FCC Commissioner Geoffrey Starks. "I applaud Congressman Trone, Senator Cardin, and Senator Van Hollen for their leadership on this issue and learned a lot about the issues folks are experiencing on the ground after hearing from their constituents."

The group heard from Garrett, Allegany, Washington, Frederick, and Montgomery counties about obstacles to broadband in rural areas, including barriers in access to funding and the limited number of vendors in rural areas. FCC Commissioner Starks also announced a new $20 billion Rural Digital Opportunity Fund that will replace current funding structures from the FCC. The rules are still being developed for who will be eligible for this funding.rural-broad

Source