The next phase of a Midwest Energy and Communications project to roll out high-speed internet to unserved areas of Southwest Michigan is underway, and officials say all of this work has been making a difference for residents.
MEC says communities expected to receive service soon include rural areas near Covert and Hartford. Van Buren County Administrator John Faul tells us the county contributed a few years back as MEC sought a state grant to expand broadband availability.
“We leveraged that with MEC for about $7 million,” Faul said. “The county, about $7 million, and the state, $14 million for a $21 million project to implement, make broadband accessible throughout the county.”
Since then, a lot of work has been done to get service to areas that previously didn’t have it. Faul says MEC has made good progress.
“MEC’s last report was about 87% completed, and they are still working more towards the Bangor-Covert-Hartford area. They’re still pending construction, but most of the other units, areas throughout the county have been completed.”
Faul says about 25% of residents who can get broadband as a result do sign up for it. He hears from those who have been lacking.
“People operating out of their house. A lot of times it’s farms that need the high-speed internet access for purposes of their agricultural production. A lot of people, I think, just need connectivity to school and educational resources. Folks that have second houses here might now work remotely on occasion.”
Work that started in Van Buren County in 2023 was expected to result in about 3,400 addresses being served in the end. Faul says this benefits the community in several ways.
“It’s good for people to have access. It’s good for the local governments. Good for the sheriff’s [department], good for ambulance, good for fire. From the county point of view, it’s certainly a benefit.”
And broadband availability means economic development as companies considering expansion into an area will look at such infrastructure before making any moves.
The work being done now by MEC using a state ROBIN grant isn’t the last of it, either. Faul notes the next grants to be awarded are through the BEAD program, and that will mean more progress.
“Hopefully, BEAD will really complete the whole program and fill in the gaps that either RDOF [grants] or ROBIN didn’t get to. So we’re hoping through BEAD, by the end of the year, we will have a good basis to say that the whole county now has access to high-speed internet.”
