If you can stream Netflix without constant lagging, you have broadband, Kinnally said.
Lawmakers and organizations should approach broadband as a utility, much like water and electricity, rather than as an amenity, said Andrew Coy, executive director of the Baltimore-based Digital Harbor Foundation.
Coy said that a newly formed statewide office should measure broadband performance in different neighborhoods to combat the “very justified concern” of digital redlining –– a concern supported by data.
Two-thirds of Marylanders without broadband access live in Baltimore or in a metro county, according to a study the Baltimore-based Abell Foundation published in January 2020.
Coy told Capital News Service he understands that a statewide office created to expand broadband access won’t alleviate the state’s digital divide, but he said it’s a step in the right direction.