Merit Network gains $33M in federal stimulus investment

Wednesday, January 27, 2010 | Source: Concentrate

The federal stimulus has struck again. This time the government cash fairy has granted Ann Arbor-based Merit Network with $33 million in new funding.

The money will allow the organization to build a 955-mile extension of the research and education provider's fiber-optic backbone. The REACH-3MC project will serve as a critical broadband service to rural and under-served communities across 32 Michigan counties. The idea is to help bolster economic development by bringing the 21st Century technology and speed to more of the state.

The REACH-3MC will connect anchor institutions with national points of presence in Chicago, Southfield and Cleveland, as well as two geographically diverse 10G paths to Internet2. With Merit's existing fiber path across the Mackinac Bridge, for the first time in Michigan's history, the research and education communities in the Upper and Lower Peninsulas will be interconnected.

The Ann Arbor-based non-profit manages high-bandwidth communication lines between the major universities in the Midwest in cities like Ann Arbor, Chicago and Detroit. It has a staff of about 65 people and up to a dozen interns from the likes of the University of Michigan and Eastern Michigan University as of last summer.

Source: Merit Network
Writer: Jon Zemke