NACo Recognizes Montgomery County, Md., for Rural Broadband Project in Partnership with Comcast

The Montgomery County (MD) Office of Broadband Projects is a recipient of the 2021 National Association of Counties’ (NACo) Award for Community and Economic Development. The county was recognized for its Sugarland Broadband Project (“Bridging the Rural-Urban Digital Divide”), which was done in partnership with Comcast.

As part of the project, Comcast deployed 20 miles of fiber, bringing high-speed broadband access to business owners, farmers and residents in the rural Sugarland area of the county’s agricultural reserve. Here, 37 percent of residents did not have internet access for school, work, social interaction or daily living to participate in the digital economy.

In addition to Gigabit internet service, residential customers in Sugarloaf also now have access to all Xfinity services, including the award-winning Xfinity X1 video platform, Xfinity Home, Xfinity Voice and Xfinity Mobile. Businesses in the area can select from the full suite of Comcast Business products and services, including Ethernet network speeds up to 100 Gigabits-per-second.

“Comcast is always working to keep people connected to reliable, high-speed internet,” said Josh Bokee, Director of Government & Regulatory Affairs in Comcast’s Beltway Region, which includes Maryland, Virginia, Washington, D.C., and parts of Delaware, North Carolina and West Virginia. “We know how important it is for rural communities to be connected – especially as more daily tasks are done online – and we’re proud of the work we have done with Montgomery County to provide high-speed internet and cable TV to Sugarland residents, making their lives more connected than ever.”