March 8, 2011
ANN ARBOR, Mich. – Merit Network will be holding a community meeting on April 14, 2011, to provide an introduction to Manistique and the Schoolcraft County communities on Merit’s Broadband Stimulus Project, REACH-3MC.
In 2010, Merit Network, Inc. received two federal grants from funds allocated through the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) of 2009, totaling more than $100 million for Merit’s broadband project, REACH-3MC. The Rural, Education, Anchor, Community and Health care – Michigan Middle Mile Collaborative (REACH-3MC) is a collaboration that will build much needed broadband infrastructure in many parts of the state. The first grant for $33.3 million will enable the construction of a 1,017 mile open-access network in Michigan’s Lower Peninsula. The second grant for $69.6 million will be used to add an additional 1,270 miles of fiber-optic infrastructure in Northern Lower and Upper Peninsulas of Michigan. REACH-3MC is middle-mile infrastructure project funded through a program of the National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA).
Merit Network structured the REACH-3MC project to include several sub-recipients, organizations that can leverage the new infrastructure to improve broadband access to homes and businesses along the route.
The route for REACH-3MC will bring this fiber build to the Schoolcraft County area. On April 14, 2011, representatives from Merit Network will introduce the plans for this project and answer questions on how the community can take advantage of this high-speed network.
This meeting will be held at 9:30 a.m. on April 14, 2011, at:
Manistique Area Schools & Library
100 N. Cedar
Manistique, MI, 49854
The meeting will take place at 9:30 a.m. EDT and is open to the public.
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