Maryland Broadband Cooperative

Member’s Newsletter

admin — Fri, 17 Feb 2012 13:38:51 +0000

In the attached Member’s Newsletter receive an update on the progress made by the Cooperative in 2011 and a preview of the exciting things ahead in 2012. MdBC January 2012 Newsletter-1

Maryland Broadband Members Gather in Annapolis

admin — Wed, 26 Oct 2011 15:21:23 +0000

October 20, 2011, Members of the Maryland Broadband Cooperative gathered in Annapolis to receive an annual update from the Cooperative’s Staff and Partners. The Members, who attended from every region of the state, heard presentations on the Cooperative’s successes from the past year, status updates on projects that affect broadband and economic development across Maryland, as well as the cutting edge technologies being utilized by the Cooperative for the long-term growth of the network and business. The special guest speaker was Peter Franchot, Comptroller of Maryland, who graciously greeted and welcomed the Members to Annapolis, and thanked them for their innovation, job creation, and willingness to work together through the Cooperative for the betterment of Maryland.

Geoff Oxnam, Board Treasurer, gave the yearly financial update and was followed by Maryland Broadband President & CEO Patrick Mitchell who gave the year in review report. Mr. Mitchell spoke about the growth of the Cooperative in membership, network, assets, facilities and staff. He discussed specifics of the network, updated progress on several federal grant projects including the Economic Development Administration (EDA) Phase III work on the Upper and Mid Shore as well as the Cooperative’s participation in the One Maryland Broadband Network (OMBN), which is the State’s federal stimulus grant through the Broadband Technology Opportunity Program (BTOP). Mr. Mitchell concluded with a summary of the overall success of Maryland Broadband, its Members, and construction projects from the past year.

The event wrapped up with technology presentations and an opportunity for the Members to meet strategic partners of Maryland Broadband. Drew Van Dopp, Director of Administration & Grants, began by updating the Members on the Broadband Mapping and Planning initiatives that the Cooperative is leading statewide. Next, Dr. Michael Scott- Director of the Eastern Shore Regional GIS Cooperative, demonstrated the Interactive Broadband Map (mdbroadbandmap.org) and reviewed how the mapping team is utilizing broadband data to produce extraordinary maps on everything from Broadband availability, realized broadband speeds, and comparisons of 3G and 4G cellular performance. The day concluded with Infinera, the company who Maryland Broadband selected from a national search as their network technology partner, who provided the Members with an introduction to their groundbreaking Photonic Integrated Circuit (PIC) technology. For Members that were interested in an in-depth briefing on the new electronics that are being deployed across the Maryland Broadband network, Infinera brought the “Infinera Express”, a rolling equipment lab where Members could see the actual electronics being deployed and practice provisioning a circuit.

MdBC selects Inifinera for Statewide Optical Network

admin — Fri, 21 Oct 2011 15:49:21 +0000

Maryland Broadband Cooperative Selects Infinera for Statewide Optical Network

Designed to increase competitiveness for businesses in Maryland

Sunnyvale, CA and Annapolis, MD –Oct. 20, 2011 – Infinera (NASDAQ: INFN) and the Maryland Broadband Cooperative announced today at the Maryland Broadband Annual Members Meeting and among Maryland government officials the launch of a statewide optical transport network built with Infinera’s regional DTN and metro ATN platforms. Maryland Broadband chose Infinera because of the simplicity, scalability and efficiency of Infinera’s solution.

The Maryland Broadband Cooperative is an open-access, middle-mile fiber provider, offering its members high-capacity synchronous optical network, Ethernet and Internet services. Spanning more than 1,300 miles, Maryland Broadband’s network will enable service providers to offer high speed broadband services to businesses, healthcare facilities, educational institutions, public safety offices and residents in rural Maryland.

“Maryland Broadband Cooperative was created to contribute to the quality of life of rural Maryland and spur economic development by providing cost effective high speed internet services to underserved regions,” said Patrick Mitchell, President & CEO of Maryland Broadband. “We looked at all the market leaders and Infinera’s solutions made the most sense–it’s reliable, simple to deploy and manage, and scalable to meet future growth in our network.”

“This is a great private-public partnership and I am excited Maryland Broadband Cooperative selected Infinera for this network,” said Peter Franchot, Comptroller, State of Maryland. “This network is important to the state in promoting economic development through the deployment of cutting edge technologies that improves communications and broadband access to rural areas of Maryland.”

“We are delighted to partner with the Maryland Broadband Cooperative on this project to bring broadband services to underserved communities,” said Tom Fallon, Infinera CEO. “Infinera’s DTN and ATN platforms enable scalable, simple and efficient regional and metro networks.”

See full Press Release at Maryland Broadband Cooperative Selects Infinera for Statewide Optical Network

Annual Members’ Meeting, Oct 20th in Annapolis

admin — Tue, 11 Oct 2011 12:26:43 +0000

The Maryland Broadband Cooperative will be holding its Annual Members’ Meeting on October 20^th where the leadership of the cooperative will brief its membership on the year in review and the next steps moving forward. This is an opportunity for member organizations not only to learn the progress and vision of Maryland Broadband- but also an opportunity to interact with other members, form partnerships, collaborate, and meet supporters of the Cooperative. Information packets have been mailed to Member Delegates with e-mail updates sent as well. If any members have questions- they should contact the Cooperative staff by calling 410.341.6322.

Meet Maryland Broadband’s Student Intern

admin — Fri, 16 Sep 2011 13:50:11 +0000

As part of our commitment to the community, MdBC has brought on its first student intern. The goal is to provide young people with opportunities to learn about cutting edge technology, advance their education, and see how they can make a difference by assisting the Cooperative fulfill its mission in Rural Maryland. Our first student intern is Mr. Randy Dornon, a freshman at Chesapeake College who is studying Business and Technology. Randy began his internship in July, and in the last three months has learned how to provision circuits and set-up new customers, been introduced to the fundamentals of networking equipment, performed OTDR testing on backbone fiber, and assisted the Cooperative staff with our disaster preparedness efforts in advance of Hurricane Irene. After completing his internship and studies at Chesapeake College, Randy plans to continue his education at the University of Maryland.

Intern Randy with Comptroller Franchot and the Cooperative Staff

MdBC Has No Loss of Service During Storm

admin — Mon, 29 Aug 2011 15:57:02 +0000

The Maryland Broadband network suffered no loss of service to any of our Members during Hurricane Irene. As a result of proper planning, coordination, and the dedication of your cooperative staff, Maryland Broadband’s huts, electronics, and overall network were monitored around the clock. During the storm, MdBC staff not only responded to Member calls and questions faster than the standards in our Escalation Plan, they physically checked on our hut locations to assure there were no imminent threats to network service. Because of our planning and procedures we were able to provide world class service even in the midst of such a storm.

We have returned to business as normal on Monday, August 29th.

Maryland Broadband Prepares for Irene

admin — Thu, 25 Aug 2011 15:09:14 +0000

Maryland Broadband is implementing its disaster preparedness plan in anticipation of Hurricane Irene striking the Mid-Atlantic region. We are making the network as secure as possible ahead of the storm and will monitor network stability through the weekend. As the situation develops we will update the MdBC website and coordinate with our customers per our disaster communications procedures.

Maryland Broadband Hosts 7 State Regional Broadband Mapping Meeting

admin — Wed, 20 Jul 2011 12:55:58 +0000

On July 12th, MdBC and the Maryland Broadband Mapping team hosted the first Mid-Atlantic Broadband Mapping meeting at Towson University. The meeting was attended by delegations representing DC, DE, MD, NJ, PA, VA, and WV. The state delegations discussed their successes as well as challenges and shared several best practices that state projects could implement immediately. Perhaps the most exciting result of the meeting was that the attendees want to investigate areas where we can address issues common to us all as a regional group as opposed to on a state-by-state basis. It was agreed that the regional focus is something each of the states values, so we have committed to get together more often, perhaps twice a year on a rotating basis where other states will follow Maryland’s lead in playing host.

MdBC Releases RFP for Equipment Shelters

admin — Thu, 14 Jul 2011 15:53:04 +0000

MdBC Equipment Shelter RFP_07142011 As part of MdBC’s participation in the One Maryland Broadband Network, we are pleased to accept responses to the attached RFP for Equipment Shelters. Responses are due August 4, 2011.

Check Out Maryland Broadband’s new Coverage Map!

admin — Wed, 22 Jun 2011 19:48:02 +0000

Go to the Coverage page to see MdBC’s new Network Map for June 2011. This map demonstrates the growth in reach MdBC has been able to achieve through network builds and partnerships. As BTOP construction progresses, we anticipate being able to publish an updated map by the end of the year.