Maryland State Finance and Procurement Section 3-705

      (a)      The General Assembly declares that:

            (1)      it is the policy of the State to foster telecommunication and computer networking among State and local governments, their agencies, and educational institutions in the State;

            (2)      the current alignment of interagency and educational telecommunication and computer networking in the State, based in part on the arrangement of Local Access and Transport Areas (LATAs), does not serve all areas of the State equally, but instead creates a disparity between rural and urban regions;

            (3)      rates for the intrastate inter-LATA telephone communications needed for effective integration of telecommunication and computer resources are prohibitive for many smaller governments, agencies, and institutions;

            (4)      there is a need to improve access, especially in rural areas, to efficient telecommunication and computer network connections;

            (5)      improvement of telecommunication and computer networking for State and local governments and educational institutions promotes economic development, educational resource use and development, and efficiency in State and local administration; and

            (6)      the use of improved State telecommunication and computer networking under this section is intended not to compete with commercial access to advanced network technology, but rather to foster fundamental efficiencies in government and education for the public good.

      (b)      (1)      The Department shall establish a telecommunication and computer network in the State.

            (2)      The network shall consist of:

                  (i)      one or more connection facilities for telecommunication and computer connection in each LATA in the State;

                  (ii)      a backbone comprising one or more inter-LATA fiber-optic links between each telecommunication facility, using a failure-resistant architecture, and adhering to the DS3 standard or better, to allow communication rates of at least 45 megabits per second, and multiplexing for transmission of video, voice, and data; and

                  (iii)      facilities, auxiliary equipment, and services required to support the network in a reliable and secure manner.

      (c)      The network shall be accessible through direct connection and through local intra-LATA telecommunications to State and local governments and public and private educational institutions in the State.