ELLICOTT CITY, MD – Howard County Executive Calvin Ball announced an expansion of free Wi-Fi access at the Columbia Lakefront, ahead of the summer season. Photos of the announcement can be viewed on the County’s Flickr page. Video of the announcement can be viewed on the County Executive’s FaceBook page.
Access to the digital world has become just as important as access to physical spaces. It connects residents to education, employment, healthcare, government services, and loved ones near and far. Each of these projects, including the recent expansion today, represent a deliberate commitment to digital equity. Howard County built an ecosystem. We built this critical infrastructure not only for today's needs but for tomorrow's opportunities, whether that means hybrid work, remote learning, outdoor programming, livestreaming events, or future technologies we have yet to imagine.
Since taking office in December 2018, Ball has significantly expanded Wi-Fi access throughout the county, from bustling downtown Columbia, Elkridge, and Ellicott City to the rural areas in the western part of Howard County. There are 118 public Wi-Fi sites across the county, including at parks, community centers, libraries, senior centers and more.
The Covid19 pandemic accelerated the need for more dependable broadband access, as public schools, employers, healthcare providers and others relied almost exclusively on virtual platforms to conduct business on a day-to-day basis. As outdoor spaces became the sole safe gathering places, the need for Wi-Fi in these spaces became greater.
In 2022, the County began large-scale modernization of wireless infrastructure. This included replacing more than 900 wireless access points. The new wireless solution provides greater throughput to the internet, centralizes wireless management, deeper analytical data and reporting, enhanced troubleshooting and controls the amount of bandwidth any one device can consume.
“During the COVID-19 pandemic, when residents depended on reliable internet access for work, school, healthcare, and essential services, Howard County didn’t pause—we accelerated, and have continued accelerating, expand access for all,” said David Leeds, CIO and CISO, Howard County Department of Technology and Communication Services. “Today, this network supports public safety, education, economic development, community organizations, and digital equity initiatives across our county. More importantly, it expands access to opportunity and helps ensure that Howard County residents can participate fully in an increasingly connected world.”
This action follows the creation of Transform Howard, an innovative large-scale plan to make Howard County into a national model for digital inclusion. Launched in 2021, Transform Howard’s goal is to create spaces that support broadband infrastructure by promoting digital literacy, addressing affordability and fostering entrepreneurship.
The Howard County Office of Broadband owns and operates more than 300 miles of fiber-optic infrastructure that connects county facilities, community partners such as the libraries, Merriweather Post Pavillion, Columbia Association properties and Howard County Public Schools.
To support hybrid learning during the Covid-19 pandemic, the County expanded network capacity to significantly improve connectivity for HCPSS. Thanks to these improvements, students, teachers and parents were able to reliably use video platforms for classes and educational resources during the pandemic.
“The COVID-19 pandemic revealed important lessons about the work that remains to ensure equitable digital access across our community. Even in a highly connected county, we discovered that some students and educators struggled to fully participate in virtual learning,” said Bill Barnes, Superintendent, Howard County Public School System. “We want students to be prepared for an increasingly technology-driven world while also developing the communication, collaboration, and relationship-building skills that can only be cultivated through meaningful human interaction. The continued expansion of WiFi and broadband across Howard County is creating new opportunities for students, providing greater flexibility for teaching and learning, and strengthening our ability to respond to future challenges if we ever face another disruption like COVID-19.”
By 2023 and 2024, major sites like the Fairgrounds, Meadowbrook, Long Reach Village Center, Cedar Lane Park, Western Regional Park, and Rockburn Park were outfitted with modern, high-capacity installations.
The public network is backed by enterprise-grade Cisco Meraki infrastructure. In May 2026 alone, analytics show more than 83 TB of data have been transferred over the network with 51,073 clients in a single month.
The Howard County Office of Broadband is responsible for increasing the network capacity tenfold from 10 Gbps to 100 Gbps since 2019. The Office owns and maintains more than 250 miles of fiber optic infrastructure and has expanded the network to 257 connected sites, including 102 new locations since 2018.
Howard County has been able to significantly expand its digital footprint thanks to collaborative partnerships with key community partners such as Columbia Association. In 2024, Ball announced that all 23 Columbia Association pools would offer free public Wi-Fi for the first time.
"Our partnership with Howard County has helped expand Wi-Fi access across some of Columbia’s most beloved public spaces and amenities, making it easier for residents to stay connected while enjoying everything our community has to offer," said Shawn MacInnes, President/CEO of Columbia Association. "With Columbia more connected than ever, we can offer more dynamic Lakefront programming and plan for future amenities and enhancements with confidence, knowing we have a strong foundational partnership with Howard County."
Additionally, the County partnered with its largest employer- the Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory (APL) to deliver critical fiber connectivity projects, including a new route to Rivers Park completed in approximately 60 days despite challenging construction requirements.
Also, a Memorandum of Understanding was established to exchange dark fiber assets for high-capacity connectivity and peering benefits that support county services. The county is planning for new dark fiber connectivity between APL and Fort Meade. This project would create a direct, high-capacity route between the two major facilities.
Ball has prioritized closing digital equity divide. The network was designed especially for low-income households, older adults, students and residents in historically underserved areas. In 2023, Ball announced an innovative partnership between the County, the State of Maryland and Verizon to expand broadband access to parts of Western Howard County. The $1.7 million investment would provide broadband access for an additional 350 homes in an area that has traditionally been underserved.
In 2022, Ball announced a remarkable 85% of unserved households will receive broadband access through Transform Howard. Approximately 88 households at the Elkridge Mobile Home Park would receive access. On Norris Lane in Elkridge, 12 households who had previously not had internet access would now be connected. An additional 462 households in Western Howard County would receive access thanks to a federal partnership with the Rural Development Broadband ReConnect Program.