Shunned by Verizon FiOS, Baltimore Hires 'Broadband Coordinator' Baltimore is one of a number of cities that Verizon skipped over when deploying FiOS, leaving most city residents with only the uncomptitive option of either sluggish Verizon DSL or Comcast (if they're lucky). When the city pushed Verizon, they were informed by Verizon that the telco would love to upgrade DSL lines, but that "parts are hard to find." Baltimore is also one of the countless Northeast cities who begged for Google Fiber attention to no avail.

Baltimore's now hoping to take matters into their own hands, and recently hired a consultant to explore a number of possible ideas -- ranging from reworking their protectionist citywide franchise agreement with Comcast, to possibly building some or all of the kind of network nobody else wants to. To push this agenda along, the city also recently hired its own "broadband coordinator", who'll be paid $44,000 a year to push the city towards a more robust broadband future: quote: Hardebeck, who will be paid $44,000 as a contractor, will lead an effort with community members and businesses to implement a widespread broadband plan for Baltimore. "The city has a fiber-optic network, and we're looking at how to extend that," he said. "We’re going to develop a strategy to more effectively provide municipal broadband." In announcing Hardebeck's hiring, the mayor said "a robust broadband infrastructure is absolutely vital to our city." According to this new broadband coordinator, Baltimore building its own broadband network so it can serve residential customers remains a " According to this new broadband coordinator, Baltimore building its own broadband network so it can serve residential customers remains a " distinct possibility ."







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xrobertcmx

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join:2001-06-18

White Plains, MD 12 recommendations xrobertcmx Premium Member Only $44,000? Honestly $44,000 a year is not much in that area. I'm not sure who this person is, or what the job actually entails, but it had better come with a housing stipend.