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REACH3MC Blog
Light at the End of the Tunnel
By Gregory Monroe - January 29, 2013 10:44 am
Connecting and Lighting Member CAIs as part of Round I
The final months of Merit's REACH-3MC Round I project have been a race to the finish line. As is the nature of large fiber-optic construction projects, it has felt as though so much has come together in so little time. Much of this is a culmination of hard work that has gone into the project in its successive phases: first an Environmental Assessment, then engineering, then permitting, infrastructure installation (strand or conduit), fiber deployment, splicing, lighting, testing … well you get the idea.
As our lit fiber miles jump to near completion, one incredibly important aspect of the project that we are perhaps most proud of is the connection and lighting of community anchor institutions (CAIs)--new and current Merit Members receiving dedicated connections to Merit's backbone.
Merit Members connected as part of the REACH-3MC project boast 1 Gbps (gigabits per second) connections. The expanded capacity enables considerably improved service and will create new opportunities for collaboration and new ways for them to provide more to their communities.
The original grant request called for Merit to connect 44 CAIs to Merit's backbone as part of the Round I project. Merit is very proud that we have been able to cost-effectively add an additional 11 CAIs to that list, increasing the scope to 55 CAIs that will benefit immediately with improved service through REACH-3MC Round I.
Of the 55 Merit Member CAIs to be connected, we have successfully delivered improved service to 34, with laterals for 18 more completed, lit and ready to be cut over to the mainline and begin receiving service.
The CAIs connected by the REACH-3MC fiber network are already seeing the benefits this project has brought to their communities and the state. As a Membership organization, we are very happy with the comments from our Members on the positive impact—both current and future—our project holds for their organization and communities.
Here is just a small sample of what some of the happy Merit Members have had to say about the Round I REACH-3MC project. If you'd like to be added to our list of testimonials, please don't hesitate to contact us!
Carol Souchock, Director, Adrian Public Library:
"This project allows the library to expand upon our services to small business and entrepreneurs, provide library customers and students with long distance education opportunities and programming, improved access to government resources, and address the ever increasing technology needs of our community."
"REACH-3MC provided an impetus for further development of our downtown, resulting in investment by competitive service providers, expanded networking opportunities with local educational institutions Adrian College, Jackson Community College, Siena Heights University and our economic development partner South Central Michigan Works as well as directly connecting us to educational and governmental resources throughout the State of Michigan."
Mary Wolfram, Office of Economic Development, City of Hillsdale:
"We are so excited to be a part of the Merit REACH fiber network. It will enable us to have high speed Internet connections which are vital to economic development here in Hillsdale. We will be having our fiber "Light Up" dedication on January 17 and we want the world to know that Hillsdale is "Open for High Tech Business." "
James Jones, Information Technology Director, Jackson Community College:
"As you might imagine this connection affords us the ability to consolidate some resources on our Central campus and it will be even more important to have connectivity to the LEN/HIL (Lenawee / Hillsdale) sites should one of the paths get cut or damaged. We realize JNC (North Campus) has very limited redundancy in comparison. It's been a long haul but worth it financially and a benefit to the communities it serves. There was simply no way for JCC to do this on our own. Effective partnering and collaborative projects are the only reasonable way. Thanks for your teams time and expertise. So sorry you won't be there on the 17th . You are certainly in need of a clone but realize you have great people working with you."
Randall Melton, Executive Director Information Technology, Lake Michigan College:
"Merit Network has become a strategic partner that has evolved beyond an Internet Service provider to a one-stop shop for cloud, DNS, SIP, technical development training and support services. Merit's new fiber REACH initiative lowers our telecommunication cost by 18% and will position us to take advantage on-net cloud service with much lower latency. This could greatly expiate our transition to cloud-based services."
Paul Robinson, Systems Administrator, Monroe County Library System:
"Utilizing Merit fiber for the primary Internet connection at the Monroe County Library System will allow us to provide better and faster network connectivity at lower cost at our operations center and our branch locations. Public libraries have become a primary location for those that are unable to access broadband Internet services at home, and it's great to have the opportunity to provide better service to our patrons."
"The fiber connection between our Mary K. Daume Library Service Center and our Ellis Library and Reference Center will allow us to enhance the services at Ellis as well as provide a more robust infrastructure to our operations."
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REACH-3MC Blog Archive
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January 28, 2013
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November 19, 2012
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October 1, 2012
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August 14, 2012
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August 1, 2012
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August 1, 2012
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May 31, 2012
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April 15, 2012
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March 23, 2012
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March 16, 2012
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March 9, 2012
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March 5, 2012
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February 14, 2012
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