The Garrett County Department of Economic Development released the "Broadband in Garrett County and Adoption" study on Tuesday and is now available online at garrettcounty.org.
The six-month long study is part of the county's Economic Development Strategic Plan, which includes a goal to increase non-satellite broadband Internet availability to at least 90 percent of county residences by 2014.
"This study is an important tool for the county," said Frank Shap, GC Department of Economic Development assistant director. "It gives us a roadmap for expanding broadband infrastructure, which we have long recognized as essential for economic development."
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Led by Joanne Hovis, the study was conducted by CTC Communications Engineering & Analysis. She briefly reviewed the study for the commissioners during their public session on Tuesday morning.
"Broadband in Garrett County and Adoption" was based on a countywide survey of more than 1,600 residents, businesses, and farms, and cost $100,000, including $50,000 in Appalachian Regional Commission grant funding.
The study also determines the most productive methods for the county to leverage its portion of the $115 million federal American Recovery and Reinvestment Act broadband grant that Maryland was awarded in September 2010. For Garrett County, the grant will fund approximately 50 miles of fiber backbone to connect major institutions such as schools, Garrett College, and government agencies.
Hovis suggested the county also invest $1.2 million to help 2,900 unserved residences connect to the "last mile" of the backbone through a wireless broadband system.
Hovis noted key findings of the study show that both broadband availability (supply) and use (demand) are high in Garrett County, compared with much of rural America, with broadband service available to about 65 percent of the county. However, broadband supply and demand still lag behind the nation's metropolitan areas, Hovis noted.
The broadband study also found that:
• Garrett County faces many of the same broadband challenges as do other rural parts of the country, including large unserved remote areas, relatively little competition in population centers, and high pricing that prevents consumers from fully benefiting from the networks where they do exist.
"These challenges are of enormous importance in light of the county's clear understanding of broadband availability to community and economic development," the commissioners noted in press release.
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