Mass. gets $2m to create broadband map

By Hiawatha Bray, Globe Staff

The US Department of Commerce has awarded $2 million to a Massachusetts state agency to create a map of the state's broadband Internet services.

The money will go to the Massachusetts Broadband Institute, which was founded last year to expand affordable Internet access throughout the state.

The Commerce Department plans to provide similar grants to all 50 states, in a bid to create a national inventory of broadband Internet services, and to determine the best way to extend service to all parts of the country. The program is being funded through the $787 billion economic stimulus package enacted by the federal government earlier this year.