Mass. receives money for broadband mapping

(AP) BOSTON - Massachusetts has received about $2 million in federal stimulus funding to help identify the speed and location of broadband services in the state over the next five years.

Gov. Deval Patrick said on Friday that the grant from the National Telecommunications and Information Administration will help Massachusetts determine which parts of the state have broadband, which parts don’t and what types of broadband are offered.

The state map will be part of a national map to be created by 2011 to guide policies aimed at expanding high-speed Internet access.

Patrick met in Washington earlier this week with U.S. Secretary of Commerce Gary Locke to push for the state’s broadband priorities.