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Merit Network wins broadband grantArticle reprinted from
Gladwin County Record
January 26, 2010
ANN ARBOR — Merit Network, Inc. has announced the award of federal stimulus funding to build a 1,017-mile extension of the research and education provider's fiber-optic backbone. The fiber will extend critical broadband service to rural and underserved communities across 32 Michigan counties, including Gladwin.
In August 2009, Merit Network submitted the REACH-3MC (Rural, Education, Anchor, Community and Healthcare — Michigan Middle Mile Collaborative) proposal to the Broadband Technology Opportunities Program (BTOP). BTOP is funded by the American Reinvestment and Recovery Act (ARRA), better known as the stimulus package.
Merit Network will share fiber strands with Michigan commercial providers — ACD.net; LYNX Network Group, LLC; and TC3Net — to accomplish a public-private partnership that will impact every sector of society in the service area: anchor institutions, homes and businesses. REACH-3MC will immediately connect 44 anchor institutions and was designed to enable access to 378 more over time. In addition, the fiber will avail service to 886,147 households and 45,875 businesses.
Merit's portion of the fiber will allow state and local governments, schools, libraries, healthcare facilities and other anchor institutions to connect to Merit's private, high-performance network, enabling them to lower costs, consolidate services and provide more to Michigan's citizens.
In keeping with the objective of the stimulus package to revitalize communities, REACH-3MC will stimulate the demand for broadband, spur economic growth, and create jobs.
REACH-3MC will receive a grant to cover 80 percent of the total cost of the project. The total cost is roughly $41.6 million, with Merit and partners covering 20 percent.
REACH-3MC is coordinated with three other ARRA applications that target underserved areas in Michigan's Upper Peninsula, Northeast Lower Peninsula and Thumb regions. Engineering and permitting will begin immediately, with groundbreaking for construction slated for May 2010.
Return to the main Merit REACH-3MC Press Archive web page.
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