Broadband Leadership Summit

By Valerie Connelly, Vice President of Government Affairs and Public Relations

As our broadband business matures, the team here at Choptank has become active in policy at the national level through NRECA Broadband. This spring, Choptank Fiber was invited to the Broadband Leadership Summit in Washington, D.C., to discuss important changes to infrastructure funding programs, mapping of served and unserved areas and more.
 
Broadband leaders from electric cooperatives around the country attended to build relationships, hear from federal agency staff, and learn more about what is working at other co-ops.
 
President & CEO, Mike Malandro and key Choptank staff visited Capitol Hill to meet with Maryland’s delegation about broadband on the Eastern Shore. U.S. Rep. Andy Harris (MD-1) chairs the House Appropriations Subcommittee on Agriculture, Rural Development, FDA and related agencies. Mike spoke to him at length about the value of federal grant funding to connect rural families to the internet. Because there are fewer homes and more miles between homes and businesses in rural areas, the cost to build is often prohibitive without grant assistance. 

Reliability and internet speed were also emphasized, as families need at least 100 Mbps download speed and almost as much upload speed to work, learn or get healthcare services at home. 

Our message to Rep. Harris, Sen. Van Hollen and Sen. Alsobrooks was to implement the Broadband Equity Access and Deployment (BEAD) Program without delay and to insist that the FCC’s new National Broadband Map accurately reflect locations and quality of service (speed and reliability). Both items are key to achieving the goal of universal broadband for families and businesses on the Eastern Shore.
 
As Choptank Fiber gets closer to meeting the broadband service needs of Choptank members and the surrounding community, you can be assured that we will continue to remind elected leaders at all levels of your need for reliable, affordable and world-class service.