Baraga Telephone Company and Upper Peninsula Telephone Company are among 23 internet providers that signed agreements with the state to expand high-speed internet access across Michigan.
In its Oct. 19 announcement, the state outlined $916 million in federal investment through the Broadband Equity, Access and Deployment (BEAD) program. Providers are contributing $531 million in private matching funds, bringing the combined statewide investment to $1.447 billion. WBUP/WJMN reported on the agreements Oct. 20.
The investment is expected to connect nearly 200,000 homes, businesses and community institutions statewide to reliable broadband.
The program targets locations without adequate broadband service, according to the Michigan High-Speed Internet Office. As of 2023, the state estimated that close to 500,000 Michigan households lacked adequate high-speed internet infrastructure.
Susan Corbin, director of the Michigan Department of Labor and Economic Opportunity, said the expansion will help students complete homework, parents work remotely and small businesses reach new customers. She also said reliable internet means “a family can access healthcare without leaving home.”
The signed agreements allow the 23 providers to begin permitting and pre-construction work. The office said it worked with recipients to finalize their grant agreements and prepare the projects for the next phase.
Baraga Telephone Company, based in Baraga, is among the companies on the 23-company list. The full roster includes statewide names such as Spectrum, Frontier North and Michigan Bell Telephone Company alongside smaller cooperatives and regional firms.
Michigan's total BEAD allocation from the federal government is $1.559 billion, the fourth-highest in the country, according to the state. Five additional provisionally selected providers are expected to finalize their own agreements soon.
Each recipient has four years from execution of its grant agreement to finish its projects.
