Mason - The Broadband Equity, Access, and Deployment (BEAD) Program, a component of the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, provides $42.45 billion to expand high-speed internet access to unserved and underserved locations across the country. Funding was allocated on a state-by-state basis, with Michigan receiving $1.559 billion.
The Michigan funding, which will be administered by the Michigan High-Speed Internet Office (MIHI), will utilize a competitive grant program to help ensure that every one of Michigan’s unserved (less than 25 Megabits per second download speed and 3 Megabits per second upload speed) and underserved (less than 100 Megabits per second download speed and 20 Megabits per second upload speed) homes and businesses can get connected to reliable high-speed internet infrastructure.
The Ingham County Commissioners and Ingham County Broadband Taskforce, will be developing applications for BEAD Program funding based on locations that are unserved or underserved. In order to maximize potential BEAD funding, the broadband status of locations in Ingham County; either served, unserved, or underserved, needs to be verified.
To determine how a location is classified, citizens can visit MIHI’s website at
www.michiganbroadbandmap.com/map, select “Address” from the “Area” drop down box, and enter their address in the “Search” box. This will provide the service location status (served, underserved, unserved) as well as the provider(s), technology, and speed.
If citizens feel their property is incorrectly classified, MIHI is providing a challenge process from March 25, 2024 through April 23, 2024.
“Maximizing citizen engagement in the challenge process is going to be critical to our success in acquiring BEAD funding”, Ingham County Commissioner Randy Maiville, and member of the Broadband Taskforce said. “Representing a large portion of rural Ingham County, I know the connectivity issues we face in rural areas, and BEAD funding will be a great opportunity for us to address this issue.”
Challenges can only be submitted by government agencies or qualified not-for-profits, so Ingham County has partnered to Merit Network, Inc., to consolidate and submit challenges. Citizens can visit Merit’s website at www.merit.edu/challenge to submit a challenge on internet availability or schedule automated speed tests to challenge the provider speeds indicated on the State’s broadband map.
“We know from experience that not all speeds advertised by providers are 100% accurate, so having a convenient way to document your actual speeds is really important,” Ingham County Commissioner Irene Cahill, and member of the Broadband Taskforce said. “Merit’s website takes the guesswork out of speed tests and offers an easy way for our residents to challenge what their internet service providers say they have.”