City sees opportunity with broadband stimulus – Metro Desk

Columbia, Richland County and Benedict College officials are meeting today to discuss how they can team up to go after $7.2 billion in stimulus money for broadband technology.

Columbia is eyeing the money to help with its plan to install super-smart security cameras that can hear gunshots. It’s not the cameras that are expensive, it’s the fiber optic cables and other infrastructure that it takes to put the cameras in place that cost the most. If the city can get a heaping helping of stimulus money to knock out that infrastructure cost, the security cameras could finally become a reality...