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.
