Peninsula Fiber Network (PFN) announced recently that it has been awarded a major federal grant to install broadband infrastructure in 3 areas across the state of Michigan. And the project includes routes that traverse Michigan’s lakes and unserved/underserved counties and towns, bringing much-needed “middle mile” broadband infrastructure to improve the state’s broadband connectivity.
The “middle mile” broadband infrastructure refers to the intermediate fiber optic connections that serve as the backbone of internet connectivity. After installation, the connections allow for the eventual expansion of local broadband service.
PFN’s roughly $87 million project also includes a $61.2 million grant from the National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) Middle Mile Broadband Infrastructure Program. And PFN will match 30% of the grant funding by contributing $26 million toward the broadband expansion projects.
Peninsula Fiber Network General Manager Scott Randall noted that beyond helping to expand internet access to unserved/underserved areas, the underwater connections help improve the resiliency of Michigan’s broadband network because the connections installed along the lakebed are less likely to be impacted by severe weather patterns and other catastrophic events.
The PFN project is part of President Biden’s “Internet for All” initiative – which made $1 billion in funding available to projects that connect high-speed internet networks to each other and reduce the cost of bringing internet service to communities that lack it. And Peninsula Fiber Network’s grant will allow for the construction of middle-mile broadband routes in three locations across Michigan (view a map of the routes here):
ROUTE 1: The first route features an underwater fiber optic connection – which will be installed between Benton Harbor and Chicago. And carriers in Michigan will have a fiber optic connection to Chicago with access to the lowest cost wholesale core internet. This route extends through unserved/underserved areas of southwest rural Michigan to an interexchange carrier (IXC) facility in Byron Center, MI going through Berrien, Van Buren and Allegan Counties. A recent broadband study in Berrien County found that 64% of townships in southwest Michigan do not have access to high-speed broadband.
ROUTE 2: The second route connects the town of Gulliver (near Manistique) in the Upper Peninsula to Beaver Island and Charlevoix. And this route combines national security interests with access to middle-mile broadband for rural Michigan. Currently, the only fiber access between Michigan’s upper and lower peninsulas is across the Mackinac Bridge. Any redundant connection must traverse around Lake Michigan which adds delay to the signal transmission. This Lake Michigan crossing would bring an additional reliable, redundant route between the two peninsulas. It also provides much-needed middle-mile access to multiple communities like remote and isolated Beaver Island and to last-mile providers in northern Michigan.
ROUTE 3: A third route will be installed between Flint and Port Huron. This route traverses into unserved and underserved areas in the Lapeer, Macomb, St. Clair, and Genesee counties to reach an IXC in Flint. This middle-mile route provides additional connections in these counties, bringing more opportunities for end-user providers to offer broadband service to county residents.
After the grant project is completed, PFN will offer wholesale broadband services at reasonable rates to any broadband service provider; including cellular and other wholesale carriers, and end-user providers that will utilize this middle-mile infrastructure to provide broadband service to households in the nearby unserved and underserved areas.
KEY QUOTE:
“Internet connectivity is the backbone of Michigan’s economy, allowing businesses to thrive, connecting people to health care services and education providers, and helping people communicate locally and around the globe. This grant, combined with PFN’s own investment, will allow for the installation of middle mile infrastructure that will help to bring better and faster broadband to some of the largest underserved areas in our state while strengthening network connections between Michigan’s peninsulas and with a neighboring state. We are thankful to our local, state and federal partners for supporting us in this grant and look forward to getting started on this vital infrastructure project.”
— Peninsula Fiber Network General Manager Scott Randall
