WORCESTER COUNTY, Md. -Â During the commission meeting Tuesday, Oct. 6, Maryland Broadband Cooperative presented the Transatlantic Fastnet project to commissioners and the public.
The project is a partnership with Amazon Web Services and would potentially bring a transatlantic cable landing to the Ocean City Municipal Airport.
The presentation comes after the Worcester County Planning Commission tabled the zoning text amendment last Thursday. Drew Van Dopp, president and CEO of Maryland Broadband, said the project would provide a route for high-speed data to travel from Europe to business parks in Northern Virginia.
 “It is not a 25,000-square-foot facility with five megawatts of power,” Van Dopp said. “It is a 1,200-square-foot facility with 350 kilowatts of power. It is not a data center, it is not a cable landing station, and it cannot be turned into either of those things.”
 Van Dopp said the project is an opportunity to more than double the amount of available fiber capacity on the Eastern Shore. He also said taxpayers are not being asked to pay for the project.
 Worcester County Commissioner Eric Fiori asked Van Dopp several questions following the presentation. Fiori said more information is still needed from Maryland Broadband.
 “They're asking the county commissioners to change zoning to approve a $40 million private investment from AWS, in agreement with Maryland Broadband, and for them to build out basically the entire fiber network through the state of Maryland, starting in Worcester County for basically on the dime of a private entity,” Fiori said.
 “That's wonderful on paper and that sounds great, but you're talking about a $40 million investment with basically zero contractual obligations right now,” he said.
 Fiori said he wants the public to have a say in the project, regardless of what commissioners decide.
 “I feel like the public is not being heard,” Fiori said. “We had eight community members today speak about it at a day meeting when everybody else is working. I had 80 of our residents last night at a public forum.”
Fiori is asking Maryland Broadband and AWS to hold a public meeting in 60 days with the county's Planning Commission.
He said he hopes the next meeting has plenty of notice for the public so residents have the opportunity to ask questions and get the answers they need.
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