Broadband internet still lags in rural Michigan; new program links 30k homes

• Nearly 30,000 homes in rural Michigan now have or will soon get broadband internet access
• Michigan State University is steering broadband expansion
• It’s part of a statewide effort to wire the state for high-speed internet

The stories Roger Blake has heard in meetings across Michigan haunt him.  

Mothers driving their children to public libraries to access the internet and complete their homework. Senior citizens pulling cars into the parking lots of fast food restaurants to find Wi-Fi signals strong enough for doctor telehealth appointments.

“It’s 2024, there’s been ample time for internet to get into homes,” said Blake, CEO of Merit Network, an Ann Arbor-based nonprofit that operates internet services for Michigan education institutions.

Michigan is 31st among states for broadband access, with 1 in 10 residents still lacking it, according to a ranking from Broadband Now, an online ranking service. Eight counties, including five in the Upper Peninsula, have less than 50% of homes with access to even the lowest speed considered to be broadband internet, according to one study.

Until recently, public universities and K-12 schools used most of the capacity of that education and research-intended network. But a recent, massive upgrade to that broadband system has allowed the network to make its fiber-optic service available to families across vast stretches of rural Michigan.

Related: Michigan to receive $1.5B to extend internet to 210,000 in rural areas

Almost 30,000 homes that previously didn’t have access to broadband now have connections or are in the process of getting it, thanks to a Michigan State University-led expansion of Merit Network services, called the MOON-light initiative.

While a separate effort, MOON-Light is coordinated with a similar state government push to wire all parts of the state, which is seen as key to improving Michigan’s current economic and educational malaise.

Studies show good home internet can improve learning and odds of enrolling in college. It’s also a valuable tool in attracting residents to beautiful but broadband-scarce regions of the state, and luring businesses that require good access to the internet, said Keith Hampton, professor of media and information at Michigan State University, who was part of the team that opened the previously education institution-only internet pipeline to Michigan homes.

"This project is a major step toward eliminating disparities in academic achievement associated with inequalities in broadband access,” Hampton said. “All Michiganders will now have more opportunity to fully participate in the education system, engage with their communities, and to pursue new paths to economic opportunity.”

So far, the project has expanded internet services primarily in the Upper Peninsula and in northern Michigan. 

Other expansion pockets include rural communities around Saginaw, and in west Michigan in Allegan and Ottawa counties.

The program brings high-speed broadband to “hubs” around the state, which local internet providers can tap to then wire the “last mile” to homes. 

The savings from having fiber optic hubs close to rural areas, plus federal grants to incentivize the wiring to homes, makes getting broadband to sparsely populated areas economically feasible, Blake said.

"The MOON-Light initiative is a wonderful example of a transformational project that brings Internet access across Michigan communities,” Blake said.