TheReview_Nov_Dec_2021_FlipBook

Upper Peninsula & The Thumb Get Blazing Fast Internet Service This Year, Closing the Digital Divide

M any of Michigan’s communities still lack affordable access to true high-speed Internet services, but the Upper Peninsula and Thumb are about to leap ahead in a big way. Highline Internet, a new service launched in the Upper Peninsula and Thumb by Georgia-based ITC Broadband, is bringing real high-speed Internet to the regions at a price of $99 per month. Highline’s service will have download speeds of 1 Gigabit per second (1000 Mbps) and upload speeds of 1 Gigabit per second (1000 Mbps), greatly surpassing the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) definition of high-speed Internet as having minimum speeds of 25 Mbps downstream and 3 Mbps upstream. middle-mile infrastructure (noun) : lines connecting the network’s main back- bone with the end points where residents and businesses hook up to the Internet

Highline is building more than 6,000 miles of fiber-to-home connections with help from the FCC’s Rural Digital Opportunities Fund. Engineering and construction work is underway, and the company expects to begin delivering service to customers in the 4th quarter of this year. This fiber-to-the-home network will help to fill a need for real high-speed Internet service in Michigan, where "last mile" connections remain scarce in rural areas, creating a digital divide between these areas and those with larger populations. The rural digital divide has serious consequences in people’s lives. High-speed Internet service helps residents find work, improve their education, and participate fully in today’s digital economy. Businesses with high-speed Internet have a competitive advantage over those that don’t, and they find it easier to attract talent, including young graduates who prefer areas with strong connectivity. High-speed Internet also is playing an increasingly important role in health care. It has even been demonstrated to increase home values and higher agricultural yields (Impact of Broadband Penetration on U.S. Farm Productivity, Office of Economics and Analytics, FCC, 2021).

18 THE REVIEW

NOVEMBER / DECEMBER 2021