Maryland Governor Martin O’Malley (D) and United States Senator Barbara Mikulski (D: Maryland) came to La Plata to mark the beginning of the use of new broadband technology in Maryland on Wednesday afternoon.
“Southern Maryland’s done a great job of working together to bring broadband to Charles County, St. Mary’s and Calvert County,” O’Malley said. “It’s important for our economy, it’s important for jobs, it’s important for connecting small businesses to the new economy and it’s also important law enforcement and the education of our kids. This is the infrastructure of the future and Southern Maryland’s leading the way.”
“I think broadband coming to Southern Maryland will be able to wire the county and create jobs,” Mikulski said. “It will enable businesses to connect to customers in new markets. It will connect in the area of public safety and education. Essentially, what it does is make sure Charles County is ready for the jobs today and the future for tomorrow.”
“It’s fabulous. It impacts our public safety, education and citizens. This is the backbone for areas in our county that aren’t served. Hopefully this will allow us to get the powerhouses to provide access. IT also gives opportunity to entrepreneurial small business ISPs to get involved in providing internet services.”
The Maryland State Police gave a demonstration of the new fiber optics systems, which took only nine hours to wire, to the Governor and Senator. Running several video streams, simultaneously, the video never once froze to “buffer”, and videos that take several minutes to download on broadband (and hours on dial-up) only take seconds to download on the new broadband system.
During a press conference, after the demonstration, O’Malley, Mikulski and Charles County Commissioner President Candice Quinn-Kelly (D) made remarks about how broadband will tie communities together and make Maryland safer.
“Maryland’s broadband infrastructure is laying the foundation for a stronger economy,” Mikulski said. “The One Maryland Broadband Network is creating construction jobs today to support the technology jobs of the future. By making Maryland the nation’s first digital state, we are ensuring that as one Maryland, we will be ready to roll in the innovation economy. I was proud to put funds in the federal checkbook to expand this broadband network and am pleased to be in La Plata at the first site of Maryland’s information superhighway to ‘go live.’”
“A modern economy requires modern investments,” O’Malley said. “Thanks to Senator Mikulski and our entire Congressional Delegation, we are working to create and save jobs and expand our new broadband network. Together, we’ve invested more than $43 million in State dollars to build this network to connect every part of Southern Maryland to information, resources, jobs and opportunities. If we’re going to move our State out of this recession and start creating opportunities, we must make the investments in our infrastructure that will allow us to compete and win in the new economy.”
“Broadband is a robust technology, the infrastructure of the information superhighway. The Broadband Technology Opportunity Program grant allows Charles County an opportunity to increase and build upon our existing infrastructure,” said Charles County Commissioner President Candice Quinn Kelly. “The grant-funded fiber connections will allow us to enhance critical programs and services, including 9-1-1 capabilities and other emergency services, and make government even more accessible to residents.”
Kelly also said that Mt. Hope/Nanjem
