Merit Network to lay cables across Mackinac Bridge

Merit Network, Inc. of Ann Arbor has been in the news the last few years for the nonprofit’s work on expanding broadband and Internet access to the rural areas of Michigan. The latest among those stories is that Merit now will begin running fiber-optic cables for high-speed Internet across the Mackinac Bridge.

It’s doing so in agreement with the Mackinac Bridge Authority, which will allow Merit to use the existing cables crossing the bridge and purchase them for use in its REACH-3MC broadband project.

“Just as the construction of the Mackinac Bridge itself had a profound impact on economic development and quality of life for the residents of Michigan, the REACH-3MC project will provide new opportunities for our state,” says Merit president and CEO Donald Welch.

The project is funded by two grants Merit received from the Broadband Technology Opportunities Program, along with $130 million in private investment from Merit and its sub-networks. Together the funding aims to build 2,300 miles of Internet infrastructure across Michigan’s most rural and underserved communities.

Writer: Sam Eggleston
Source: Donald Welch, Merit Network, Inc.