ANN ARBOR – Merit Network announced Tuesday the award of

federal stimulus funding to construct 1,270 miles of fiber-optic

infrastructure in the Northern Lower and Upper Peninsulas of Michigan.

The fiber, which enables access to high-performance broadband, will

benefit rural and underserved communities across 29 Michigan counties, helping students with their school work and businesses reach world markets.

The fiber will pass over 525,000 households, 49,000 businesses and 569

community anchor institutions in Michigan, initially connecting 61

anchors to Merit’s high-performance backbone as the network is built,

and many more as it becomes practical.

The project, entitled REACH-3MC II (Rural, Education, Anchor, Community,

Healthcare – Michigan Middle Mile Collaborative II), is an extension of

Merit’s existing 1,600 mile-plus backbone network and a complement to

Merit’s REACH-3MC project that received federal funding in early

January. Both projects are funded through a program of the National

Telecommunications and Information Administration.

When construction is complete for both projects, Merit’s network will

have over 3,800 miles of contiguous, high-capacity fiber to meet the

needs of Michigan’s research and education community and Merit will have

brought almost over $100 million in federal funding to Michigan and

leveraged nearly $30 million more in private investment.

“Years ago Merit embarked on a strategy to own our own fiber-optic

infrastructure. This was the best way to provide the performance and the

price our Membership needs now and in the future,” said Merit President

and CEO, Don Welch. “We knew it would take a long time, but also knew we

had to get infrastructure in these areas somehow. The stimulus funding

accelerates that plan to the benefit of the entire State.”

REACH-3MC II is a public-private partnership designed with the

participation of seven different commercial sub-recipients. Merit will

connect community anchor institutions in the service area to its

network, while sub-recipients will connect and improve the service

available to homes and businesses in rural communities along the route.

Each sub-recipient will own strands of fiber over various geographic

segments of the network.

REACH-3MC II will provide the communities in the service area with

“middle mile” infrastructure, which can be thought of as a main highway,

pipeline or central trunk for a community to leverage.

REACH-3MC II will operate on an “open access” network. Any local

Internet service provider (ISP) will be able to work with Merit and the

commercial sub-recipients to access the network, enabling them to offer

improved service at a lower cost. Local ISPs typically offer “last mile”

service to end-users, extending service to homes and businesses.

“The areas in Michigan that REACH-3MC II will benefit, currently lack

accessible, high-speed, middle mile infrastructure,” said Elwood

Downing, vice president of member relations, services and communications

for Merit.

“Without it, companies that wish to provide local broadband services

face high costs to build lengthy fiber runs or must lease high-mileage

circuits to carry traffic and that drive up the cost for the end-user,”

he said. “This is especially a problem for community anchors

institutions like Merit Members that provide important services to the

public.”

In addition to providing the Upper Peninsula with high-capacity,

affordable infrastructure that includes fiber across the Mackinac

Bridge, REACH-3MC II will create two diverse spurs out of the UP that will assure higher levels of connectivity.

Due to low population density and geographic challenges, there are

limited ways for local network traffic in the UP to reach global

interconnection points. In 2006, a single car accident downed phone and

Internet service for the majority of residents in the region.

Michigan Technological University, located in Houghton, will benefit from improved capacity and a second diverse fiber connection. REACH-3MC II features a planned 10 Gbps node at Michigan

Tech’s campus.

“In addition to the virtually unlimited capacity the fiber will be

equipped with, redundant paths out of our campus will be critical for

our institution to thrive,” said Walter Milligan, chief information

officer of Michigan Tech and member of the Merit Network Board of

Directors.

“This will create opportunities for Michigan Tech to expand and improve

our curriculum and offer more to our students,” he said.

“It will also be a boon to our researchers and the growing number of

businesses associated with the Michigan Tech SmartZone,” Milligan said.

“Many of these companies offer engineering services to remote customers,

so high-bandwidth connectivity is crucial to their success.”

The paths will terminate at the University of Minnesota Duluth and

University of Wisconsin – Green Bay thus connecting Merit’s network with

that of neighboring BOREAS-Net, Northern Tier Network and WiscNet

networks. Leveraging these connections, REACH-3MC II will provide direct

fiber-optic connections between community anchor institution networks

from Alaska to Ohio.

For more information about Merit’s REACH-3MC projects click on Merit.Edu

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