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Funds boost area broadband effortJan 21, 2010 (The Record-Eagle - McClatchy-Tribune Information Services via COMTEX) -- TRAVERSE CITY -- Plans to upgrade broadband Internet service in northern Michigan received a big boost through a multi-million dollar federal stimulus grant. The U.S. Department of Commerce on Wednesday said Merit Network Inc. will receive a $33.3 million grant and $8.3 million in matching funds to build a fiber-optic broadband network through 32 counties in the Lower Peninsula. The grant will help Merit construct a nearly 1,000-mile extension of its fiber optic network up the west side of the state along the Lake Michigan shoreline north to the Mackinac Bridge. The expanded backbone will travel through Ludington, Manistee, Beulah, Traverse City, Charlevoix and Petoskey to Mackinaw City. "Our optical backbone infrastructure will actually be going right through Traverse City," said Elwood Downing, Merit's vice president of member relations. The project also includes expansion of Merit's fiber optic network from Gaylord south to Mount Pleasant, including the communities of Grayling and Clare. In all, the project will serve an area covering an estimated 886,000 households and 45,800 businesses, mostly in rural areas. "I think it's an awesome thing for northern Michigan," said Tino Breithaupt, senior vice president of economic development for the Traverse City Area Chamber of Commerce. "For our companies, Internet accessibility and capacity is a key component to survival and growth." Merit Network Inc. is an Ann Arbor-based nonprofit corporation that's owned and operated by Michigan's public universities. It provides technical and networking assistance to public colleges and universities, K-12 schools, libraries, state government, health care organizations and other nonprofit organizations. In August, Merit submitted a proposal for federal funding for what it dubbed the "REACH-3MC" project, which stands for Rural, Education, Anchor, Community and Healthcare -- Michigan Middle Mile Collaborative. Funding was approved through the federal Broadband Technology Opportunities Program paid for with federal stimulus funds. Downing said plans for the REACH-3MC project have been in the works for "quite a long time." "We've been planning but we haven't had the funding to go forward," Downing said. Under the plan, Downing said Merit will extend its fiber optic network from the city of Monroe near Detroit across southern Michigan through several cities including Hillsdale, Coldwater and Three Rivers. At Berrien Springs, the service line will turn north toward Benton Harbor and Muskegon, going north along the Lake Michigan shoreline into northern Michigan. Downing said local Internet service providers will be able to work with Merit to access the network, enabling local companies to offer broadband service in more areas at a lower cost. The Commerce Department also awarded an $895,000 grant to Michigan State University to include $235,000 in matching funds to expand 84 existing library computer centers and establish four new computer centers. The project will add 500 new workstations at public computer centers statewide and serve nearly 13,000 additional users per week. The Associated Press contributed to this report. To see more of The Record-Eagle or to subscribe to the newspaper, go to http://www.record-eagle.com. Copyright (c) 2010, The Record-Eagle, Traverse City, Mich. Distributed by McClatchy-Tribune Information Services. For reprints, email [email protected], call 800-374-7985 or 847-635-6550, send a fax to 847-635-6968, or write to The Permissions Group Inc., 1247 Milwaukee Ave., Suite 303, Glenview, IL 60025, USA. |