Gov. Gretchen Whitmer and the National Telecommunications and Information Administration earlier this week announced that Michigan is set to receive over $1.5 billion through the Broadband Equity, Access, and Deployment Program to expand high-speed internet access and digital equity to over 200,000 Michiganders in unserved and underserved areas across the state.

Funding for this program, which comes from the $65 billion Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, is expected to help close the digital divide and help ensure Michigan residents have access to affordable, reliable and high-speed internet.

Whitmer called it a “game-changing investment” to expand access to high-speed internet to 210,000 more homes in Michigan.

Michigan will begin deploying the BEAD program funds in mid to late 2024.

At a MI Connected Future Listening Tour stop in May at the Northern Center at Northern Michigan University, state officials led a session that allowed participants to provide input on the subject.

Lack of high-speed internet access in rural areas continues to be a problem, and a “digital divide” appears to exist. In Marquette County, statistics from the 2020 Census show that 30% of residents making less than $20,000 a year are not connected to the internet.

In an increasingly connected world, high-speed internet is crucial.

“High-speed internet isn’t a luxury, it’s an essential service that we need for everything from work, school, doctors’ visits and paying our bills,” U.S. Sen. Debbie Stabenow, D-Lansing, said in a statement.

With the passage of the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, Stabenow said she and U.S. Sen. Gary Peters, D-Bloomfield Hills, were able to ensure major investments like this to expand affordable, reliable broadband in Michigan. In partnership with Whitmer and the Michigan High-Speed Internet Office, this new infrastructure will allow for telemedicine, remote learning, and other services on which families and businesses rely in Michigan, Stabenow said.

Of course, large metropolitan areas have more infrastructure, jobs and people, but people everywhere need telehealth services, email, remote learning and other important services.

We welcome this investment in unserved and underserved areas, and hope the trend toward better access continues.