ANN ARBOR, MI — Washtenaw County officials are another step closer to bringing broadband internet to rural areas throughout the county.
More than a dozen internet providers have been awarded preliminary approval to receive federal funding to bring digital connectivity to underserved areas throughout the state, the Washtenaw County Broadband Task Force announced in a news release Thursday.
The internet service providers participated in an auction process that took place across the country where various internet service providers bid on providing service to underserved areas. The names of the bidders will not become public until February, officials said.
In Michigan, 13 internet providers could receive a total of $362,985,055.60 over 10 years to serve 249,263 locations with a minimum connectivity speed of 25/3 Mbps, according to Washtenaw County. The funding comes from the Rural Digital Opportunity Fund, an FCC broadband grant program that offers $9.2 billion in funding with the goal of providing digital connectivity to more than 10 million Americans.
About 20,000 residents in Washtenaw County do not have access to broadband as defined at the 25 megabit download speed threshold, according to a March survey. The minimum standard for speed is a download speed of 25 megabits per second and an upload speed of 3 megabits per second. Members of the task force like Washtenaw County Commissioner Jason Maciejewski, D-Scio Township, argue that broadband access is essential for participation in modern society and should no longer be considered a luxury.
“This new award is incredibly important for the expansion of broadband internet access in the western part of the county especially,” Maciejewski said in an interview Friday. “The ability to connect potentially 80% of the households who don’t have broadband service over the next seven years or so is a major step forward. The fact that we now have a bidder who’s going to build out this network just means so much to people who are struggling with virtual education, access to virtual healthcare appointments — it’s going to make a huge difference for people in our townships.”
Since last year, Washtenaw leaders have set out to accomplish the goal of achieving broadband equity throughout the county by 2022. The Washtenaw County Broadband Task Force is a Board of Commissioner appointed group studying countywide broadband equity, that has used the survey data it collected earlier this year to write grant proposals, officials said.
“The COVID-19 pandemic put the spotlight on the disparities caused by a lack of internet access — disparities that have held our communities back for over a decade,” said state Rep. Donna Lasinski, D-Scio Township. “Expanding internet access is critical to the future of our local community’s and our state’s economy. These funds are welcomed news and I look forward to participating with local officials to smooth implementation.”
The providers that win the funding will need to submit additional financial, engineering, and planning documentation, the task force said, adding that once the documents are submitted to the FCC, it plans to engage with the providers to learn more about their buildout schedule and future plans.
According to the release, funding recipients must meet periodic buildout requirements that will require them to reach all assigned locations by the end of the sixth year with intermediate build-out milestones along the way.
The task force will continue its work to reach out to potential internet service providers and explore ways to extend connectivity to all county residents.
“This is a significant piece of the puzzle for us but it’s not the whole puzzle,” Maciejewski said. “There will still be thousands of people in Washtenaw County that don’t have broadband internet access after this project concludes, and its about a seven year window for the winning bidders to complete their work on the parcels they’ve been awarded.”
The Broadband Task Force meets monthly, on the third Thursday at 8:00 a.m.
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