Delta County Receives $18.5 million for Broadband Access

If you live in the U.P. you know how difficult it can be to find strong Internet just a few miles out of town. NMU has great Internet for a cheap price but you must be able to point it to the right signal spot. Broadband is available in Gladstone and Escanaba but if your on a dirt road somewhere in the forest you must use satellite with slow upload/download speeds. Satellite data is expensive! Creating alternatives that are cheaper helps to Plug the U.P. In in a way that leads to improved technology access and business development.

Investing in our data infrastructure helps keep the U.P. competitive in terms of education, business and global access. Delta County has $18.5 million of which are broken into two awardees (HERE): 

1. Consortium of AEG and Heron Broadband I: It means an association of AEG and Heron Broadband I. providing services.

2. Space Exploration Technologies Corp (SpaceX). You can see the total amount HERE. Bloomberg provides an explanation HERE. A short description is, "The Company develops crew and cargo capsules, engines, cryogenic tank structures, avionics, equipments, guidance, and control software." You can't really invest in SpaceX unless you are a chosen investor but you can research and invest in industry suppliers.

We may know from public release that there will be space flight and frigate building in the area starting up. 

First District Slated for Increased Connectivity Through Federal Rural Digital Opportunity Fund

Washington - The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) announced that an estimated 388,000 rural Americans living and working in Michigan will gain access to highspeed broadband through the Commission’s Rural Digital Opportunity Fund Phase I auction, according to auction results released on December 7th. In Michigan, the auction allocated $362,985,055.60 in support to expand broadband to 249,263 unserved homes and businesses over the next 10 years. Nearly all locations in Michigan that were eligible for the auction will be receiving access to broadband with speeds of at least 100/20 Mbps, with an overwhelming majority (80%) getting gigabit-speed broadband. The auction unleashed robust competition that resulted in more locations being awarded at less cost to Americans who pay into the FCC’s Universal Service Fund. “The results of the FCC’s auction are an important next step in connecting unserved Northern Michigan and Upper Peninsula constituents and businesses who lack access to highspeed broadband internet. The proposed deployments in our district will total $205,484,001 and serve an estimated 87,503 homes and businesses,” said Rep. Jack Bergman. “This historic auction is great news for the residents of so many rural Michigan communities, who will get access to high-quality broadband service in areas that for too long have been on the wrong side of the digital divide,” said FCC Chairman Ajit Pai.“We structured this innovative and groundbreaking auction to prioritize bids for high-speed, low-latency services to deliver the best results for rural Americans, and the results show that this strategy worked. This auction was the Commission’s single largest step ever taken toward delivering digital opportunity to every American and is another key success in our ongoing commitment to universal service.” A list of winning bidders, number of homes and businesses to be served, and total support for 10 years in Michigan’s First District can be found here.