Point Broadband’s initiative to bring high-speed internet to “unserved” and “underserved” homes in Leelanau County may not be completed until the end of this year, according to the latest projections by the Opelika, Alabama-based internet service provider. However, the county’s project consultant feels that the network could still be finished in June depending on some external factors.
This would be the second time the completion date for the project was pushed back. When the county signed the contract with Point Broadband in early 2022, it awarded the service provider $5 million – including $3.2 million in American Rescue Plan Act Funds – and stipulated the network would be completed by Dec. 31, 2023. This has since been pushed back to June 1.
Chris Scherrer, the county’s consultant on this project, said that Point Broadband is pushing the end date even further back because they anticipate difficulties in getting materials and manpower. But despite acknowledging that Point Broadband is conservatively estimating an end-of-year completion, Scherrer told the county board of commissioners in December that he “feel(s) we can get it done by June.”
“If we can get the manpower, and they have everything else in line, and the engineering and permitting is right, getting it done by mid-year is not unreasonable. But there’s some big variables. Everybody is ramping up now,” Scherrer said to the newspaper. “Resources are going to be scarce, but it’s achievable if everything lines up right.”
In Scherrer’s opinion, 2024 will be a big year for construction and especially fiber optic cable installation. Michigan providers will soon receive $238 million in federal funds through the next round of Realizing Opportunity with Broadband Infrastructure Networks (ROBIN) grant awards. These will fund broadband projects in many unserved areas, but also lead to more competition for construction contractors.
Point Broadband was one of the grant applicants awarded in the first round of ROBIN grants, receiving about $5 million in funds. Another provider, Spectrum Charter, applied for the next round of ROBIN grants, hoping to receive just over $1.3 million to build 37 miles of fiber network in “southwestern” Leelanau County, including Cleveland, Empire, Glen Arbor, and Kasson townships.
Leelanau County board chairman Ty Wessell said that the county commissioners will consider funding a portion of this project when they receive a proposal from Charter. The board planned to act on this item at the end-of-year special session on Dec. 29, but the final project cost numbers were not ready yet. These will be determined in part by how much monies were recommended by the state.
The board’s decision may also depend on Scherrer’s final review of the project’s scope with Charter engineering staff. As of the board of commissioners’ regular session on Dec. 12, Scherrer wanted to revise the proposal to reach additional unserved addresses en route of the project.
“There’s still a lot of anomalies in their proposal,” Scherrer told the board. “They’re taking addresses off the list that they’re actually passing with this new construction to get to other addresses that they say are low cost. I’ve been working on documenting it … I’m going to sit down with their engineering. We’re going to take one more shot at it.”
According to the Leelanau Internet Futures Team, Spectrum Charter has already activated service to nearly 700 previously unserved addresses, and this project could reach an additional 274 unserved addresses.
Meanwhile, Scherrer said Tuesday that four to five crews are still working on the Point Broadband network in Leelanau County this month. They are concentrating primarily on aerial work, splicing, and installations, as the freezing of the ground puts a stop to underground work.
The completed areas of the Point Broadband network can be found on point-broadband. com/new-areas/leelanau-county and they include portions of Leland Township south of M-204 and west of Lake Leelanau, Centerville and Solon townships, and portions of Kasson and Elmwood townships.
