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2010
- On January 20, Merit Network announces the award of a $33.3 million grant to build 1,017 miles of fiber-optic infrastructure. The grant was part of an American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) program administered by the National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA). The REACH-3MC (Rural, Education, Anchor, Community and Heath care - Michigan Middle Mile Collaborative) fiber project will extend critical broadband service to rural and underserved communities.
- In March, Merit's link to the Internet2 Network in Chicago is increased from 10 gigabits-per-second (Gbps) to 20 gigabits-per-second.
- On April 1, Merit signs an agreement with VMware Inc. to provide VMware licensing to public sector organizations throughout the state of Michigan.
- Merit Network President/CEO Donald Welch is named the Grant Thornton Leader & Innovator of the Year on April 22.
- Merit Member Conference establishes an attendance record, hosting over 225 professionals. Merit distributes its first annual Member Survey.
- In June, Merit's Manish Karir and contributing researchers detail findings concerning junk traffic in the 1.0.0.0/8 address space at NANOG49.
- Merit Community Supporter program debuts with ADVA Optical Networking, Cisco Systems, and Data Strategy offering their support.
- Merit Network receives a Michigan Economic Bright Spots award from Corp! Magazine in June 2010.
- Merit begins REACH-3MC community meetings around Michigan to educate organizations about the fiber-optic network project.
- Don Welch is named the vice chair of Internet2's External Relations Advisory Council.
- On August 24, Merit announces the award of $69.6 million in funding for the REACH-3MC II project, which will build 1,270 miles of fiber in Northern Michigan and the Upper Peninsula. Combined the two REACH-3MC projects will bring over $100 million in funding to Michigan and build over 2,200 miles of fiber infrastructure. Joining Merit and Governor Jennifer Granholm in the announcement are: Lawrence Strickling, assistant secretary for communication and information at the NTIA; U.S. Representative John Dingell, 15th Congressional District of Michigan; and Roger Rehm (CMU) and Dr. Walter Milligan (MTU) from Merit's board of directors.
- Western Michigan University nearsources its email services to Merit, using MeritMail for faculty, staff and students.
- In October, Merit Network features Community Cloud and other services at EDUCAUSE 2010 Conference.
- Capacity crowd enjoys Desktop Virtualization Summit in East Lansing on December 1.
- Merit's network operations center transitions to Merit Support Center, offering 24x7x365 support for all services for the Merit community.
- Merit breaks ground in Manistee on REACH-3MC fiber-optic project to begin first phase of construction.
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