Big Truck Brewery sits by the side of a narrow road that winds and curves through tall trees that provide shade along an isolated path.
Away from the greenery is a wide structure with indoor and outdoor seating.
Step in, where the right side of the brewery is packed, not with customers looking to quench their thirst with a cool ale on a hot summer day; but with residents from rural northern Baltimore County looking for updates about connecting their homes, businesses and farms to high speed internet.
“I get 1.5 meg's,” said resident and military veteran Stuart Mellon. “That was my high speed today. It's very frustrating. You literally can't do anything. I had better broadband service in Iraq at the beginning of the war than we have here.“
County Executive Johnny Olszewski held a roundtable Thursday at Big Truck with Kevin Broadhurst, vice president of government and regulatory affairs at Comcast, and John Davis, the county’s cable administrator.
Earlier in the day, Olszewski announced through a press release that 450 people will receive internet access through a $7.4 million state grant.
This broadband expansion is the last of three major announcements. Since 2019, Baltimore County, the State of Maryland and Comcast have spent $23 million to outfit 2,500 homes in the area with internet service.
“The pandemic has made it clear,” said Olszewski. “Having access to high quality broadband is almost as important as electricity, water and other basic infrastructure.”
Residents can expect to have “world class 10 gigabit internet network,” said Broadhurst, the Comcast representative. Some could get service by the end of the month, others by 2025.
When asked if Comcast would be the only internet service provider available, Broadhurst replied that nothing is stopping other vendors. However, Comcast won a competitive bid and has also invested monies for the project, he said.
“The good news is that help is on the way,” Broadhurst said.
“But there are supply chain issues that come up and impact the timing of these projects,” he continued. “Every rural community in the United States is vying for this money. They're all trying to build out fiber networks to provide service to their residents. So that puts a strain on contractors, on fiber resources, on nodes, [and] on electronics.”
Another challenge facing the rollout are long drops. Homes in Parkton and surrounding areas typically have driveways that are at least 300 feet long.
“There's a bunch that are short,” said Davis, the county’s cable administrator. “But people have multiple acre lots and you're not next to a road like you might be in Towson or Pikesville or somewhere like that.”
The sparse spacing makes it more expensive to run the cable, added Davis.
“People get excited when they see Comcast trucks in their neighborhood,” said Davis. “They think they're gonna get service immediately. It's been a long time coming. And I just ask for their patience for a short, short time so we can build everything with the funding that we received.”
Davis says residents can also email concerns to: [email protected]
