$1.5 billion allocated to help Michigan communities with connectivity
Editor's Note: A typo in the third paragraph has been fixed in the online version of this story.
EAST JORDAN — Michigan's High Speed Internet Office, created in June 2021, stopped by East Jordan on May 2 to speak with residents about their problems with connectivity in the area.
The state funded program is part of the federal bipartisan Infrastructure Act which has allocated over $65 billion to assist underserved areas. Approximately $1.5 billion will be allocated to Michigan communities this summer to fund increased broadband and connectivity.
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According to Tom Stephenson with Connected Nation, the group has traveled to over 30 cities in Michigan conducting listening sessions to determine the best way to spend the money. The additional funds from the act will ultimately work to attract community investment in the area and offset some of the costs of installing high speed internet to rural communities — a problem that event attendee and Northern Lakes Economic Alliance President David Emmet said is the number one reason that high speed internet isn't coming to the region.
Other problems identified in the East Jordan session as barriers to internet access were availability and affordability as well as the ability of people to use tech equipment and obtain tech equipment.
For more information, visit michigan.gov/leo/bureaus-agencies/mihi/miconnectedfuture.
— Contact reporter Annie Doyle at 231-675-0099 or adoyle@charlevoixcourier.com
This article originally appeared on The Petoskey News-Review: $1.5 billion allocated to help Michigan communities with connectivity
