SMITH ISLAND, Md. -- On Thursday morning, Maryland officials announced a plan to bring high-speed internet to Smith Island. The state has partnered with Verizon and Somerset County to bring the $4 million project to life.
People on the island have access to the internet, but it's outdated. So high-speed internet is something businesses and neighbors told us is sorely needed.
Elley Linton-Laird runs Jack and Pickles Shanty, a Wi-Fi based business in Ewell. She has seen slow connection slow down progress for her store.
"You can actually download more games," said Linton-Laird, pointing to one of the old-school arcade game systems. "We have not tried to do that yet because of the internet."
Other businesses, like the Bayside Inn Restaurant, require not one, not two, but three routers just to keep up.
"Everyone's like 'can we have your password?' and it's like 'no, sorry'," said Betty Tyler, the restaurants owner. "It takes all we can just to run the business.
So today's announcement to modernize the islands internet connection was more than welcome. To put the difference into perspective, downloading and HD movie on the island today would take more than an hour. With a new speed of 300 megabits per second, that same movie would download in under two minutes.
Better connection would also give people access to telehealth communications and video-based work calls.
Neighbors like Helena Harte see it as a way of just staying up-to-date.
"It really brings it into the 21st century, especially because Smith Island is not physically connected to the mainland, the internet would be a way for us to stay connected even though we don't have that," said Harte.
Plenty of people on the island said they are just looking forward to a lot less waiting around.
"That would be great if we had something where you didn't have to wait for the circles," said Tyler.
Verizon and Somerset County should have crews out to the island by the end of 2024. The goal is to wrap up the project by the end of 2025.