Berrien County Commissioners are hailing the latest broadband news to come to the county. Speaking to colleagues Thursday, Commissioner Teri Freehling said the first bit of news is the initial approval of a Midwest Energy and Communications grant to expand broadband in southwest Michigan. As we reported this week, that’ll roll out high speed internet to 5,000 homes where it’s currently unavailable. However, Freehling said there’s more news.
“Peninsula Fiber and 123 Net are building middle mile infrastructure across Lake Michigan connecting to one of the fastest data center hubs in Chicago,” Freehling said. “They’re running two trunk lines along the lake bed that will then come out in St. Joe and also in Benton Harbor, and those trunk lines will also be accessible for last mile distribution.”
The office of Senator Gary Peters announced this month the National Telecommunications and Information Administration is awarding $61 million to the Peninsula Fiber Network to connect unserved and underserved communities to high-speed internet. It’s working with 123 Net to place 535 miles of new broadband fiber to connect Michigan residents, some of it running under Lake Michigan. Freehling said 123 Net is an open access network that will allow other internet providers to use its infrastructure for more broadband rollout.
