ROCKVILLE, Md. — Whether streaming favorite TV shows or trying to wrap up that big-budget project for work, no one likes suffering through slow internet connections.
Montgomery County officials said that’s especially true for businesses and they hope a new project will provide faster connections for the county.
“Speed matters!” said County Councilmember Roger Berliner. “When you have speed and reliability, you have something that businesses need.”
UltraMontgomery seeks to give businesses exactly what they need. The four-pronged, public-private partnership includes a plan to create high capacity “dark fiber” networks that link Montgomery County data centers to a massive data center in Ashburn, Virginia, that handles the bulk of internet traffic on the East Coast.
Tuesday, the Montgomery County Council got an update on the $1.1 million project. Council members Nancy Floreen and Nancy Navarro said the plan includes “really cool stuff,” that Navarro said will give the county an edge in attracting businesses.
Part of the plan includes installing a physical link to Ashburn’s data center that will go under the Potomac River.
“They’re literally digging into the bedrock. They have received all of the environmental permits,” for the plan, said Mitsuko Herrera, director of ultraMontgomery.
The path of the dark fiber network will travel beneath the historic C & O towpath. The National Park Service has approved a permit for that construction as well, Herrera said.
“The entire route will be underground. There will be some temporary disruption, but by and large it should not be something that people really notice.”
