1. REACH-3MC Network Engineering Michael Milliken, Director Network Engineering and Operations MAEDS October 2011

2. Merit’s History 1966-Present The Michigan Education Research Information Triad (MERIT) formed in 1966 because, “significant benefits might be gained from sharing computing resources via an electronic linkage…” 1969 NSF grant for computer networking with only comparable work at BBN (ARPANET) Dial-up “Hermes” service in 1973 (!) Designed, engineered, managed and operated the NSFNET backbone Received NSF Cooperative Agreement for Routing Arbiter in 1994 (2nd Solicitation for NSFNET) Merit provided dial-in access for educational technology through 2007 Merit Embarked on a Fiber and Wireless Backbone Strategy in 2003 2006 Merit leads other R&E Networks in offering Converged/Cloud Services to its membership. 2010 Merit awarded $102 MM grant funding to build 2300 miles of fiber.

3. Vision There is equal opportunity to access information and knowledge throughout all regions of Michigan and all sectors of society. Merit’s members are strengthening and growing while Merit is acknowledged as a strategic asset with respect to technology services, collaboration, learning.

4. REACH 3MC and REACH 3MC II Overview l The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (ARRA) established $7.2 Billion in funding for broadband infrastructure, public computing centers and sustainable broadband adoption programs. l R ural, E ducation, A nchor, C ommunity and H ealth care M ichigan M iddle M ile C ollaborative (REACH 3MC) l REACH 3MC and REACH 3MC II are referred to as Round I and Round II l Merit submitted a Round I funding request in August 2009 and a Round II funding request in March 2010 l Merit has been granted both awards l Round I award of $42m in Jan 2010 to build 955 miles of fiber l Round II award of $87m in Aug 2010 to build 1,270 miles of fiber l Construction must be completed within 3 years

5. REACH-3MC Projects REACH-3MC $41.6 M ($33.3 M Grant) 955 (now over 1000) miles of fiber in 4 corridors 3 commercial sub-recipient partners 72 strands, 15 access points, mostly aerial REACH-3MC II $87 M ($69.6 M Grant) 1272 (now over 1300) miles of fiber in 3 corridors and 3 states 7 commercial sub-recipient partners (2 also in round 1) 96-168 strands, 28 access points, half trenched Collaboration Public Universities Mackinac Bridge Authority Michigan Department of Education Michigan Department of Information Technology Michigan 911 Office

6. Construction & Implementation l Project status l Federal, State and Local Regulation l Round I: l Permits – 66% approved l Changes in process: l Updating wetland permits l SHPO review l Fish and Wildlife review l NTIA review l Round II l FONSI – August 1, 2011 l 95% of field engineering completed l Permit submission(s) l MDOT, County Road l Wetlands, Federal Forest, State Forest, DNR l Metro, County Drain, Utilities

7. REACH 3MC I & II Update Cont. l Round I make ready spend l Approved over 1.5 million with more expected l Permits continue to be received l 12 RD I Colo Agreements signed l Additional Agreements pending l RD II Environmental Assessment l FONSI awarded August 2011 l RD II Single Source Justification l Awarded for Material Supplies & Fiber

8. REACH 3MC I & II Update l Round I is now 21 months into 36 month cycle l RFPs have been tendered and selections made l Fiber and build materials l Optical transport hardware l Construction companies l Outstanding RFP Selections l Ethernet Route/Switch equipment RFP closed l Responses under review; Decision to come in few weeks l Consulting & Construction of Central Office Entrance Facilities Closed October 5th l Outstanding RFP l Consulting and Construction of Telecommunications Huts Closes October 21st

9. REACH 3MC I & II Update Cont. l The many existing fiber locations will have REACH electronics installed 3/4Q 2011 l ADVA OADM and Optronics Equipment expected by 11/20 l Merit & Adva will conduct the installations jointly l Grand Rapids/Muskegon/Big Rapids/Mt Pleasant l Installation tentatively scheduled Oct 24 th – Nov 9th l St Ignace/Sault Ste Marie/Marquette/Iron Mountain/Houghton l Installation tentatively scheduled Nov 9 th – Nov 25 th

10. REACH 3MC II Route Breakdown l Round II Routes are in three corridors: l Middle Corridor, Grand Rapids to Oscoda l North East Corridor, Oscoda to Mackinaw City l Northern Corridor, St. Ignace to Ironwood l Additional spurs from the main path: l Green Bay spur, connects to Wiscnet and BOREASnet l Duluth spur, connects to BOREASnet l Houghton spur, connects to MTU

11. What Vendors Are Involved? l Fiber engineering is being performed by Turnkey and CCI l Construction will be done by Earthcom, Fiberlink, Western Tel, Amcomm and Boardman River l Installation of equipment will be done by Merit and Adva l There are 7 sub-recipients on the projects that will own fiber within the bundle l Great Lakes Comnet ● Lynx l ACDnet ● PFN l Boardman River ● Packerland l TC3

12. Connecting to the Network l Focus: l Manistee l Mackinaw City to Petoskey l Petoskey to Charlevoix l Traverse City to Kalkaska l Zeeland l Monroe to Adrian l Gaylord to Hillman [including Atlanta] l Gaylord to Grayling l Gladwin to Mt. Pleasant

13. Regional Member Relations Managers Director of Member Relations jrussell@merit.edu 734-527-5761

14. l Key Source of Information is on the REACH-3MC web portal: www.merit.edu/meritformichigan l Media Events l Photo Archive: www.merit.edu/meritformichigan/photos/ l Stimulus Email List (Updates & RFPs): www.merit.edu/meritformichigan/stimulusemaillist/ l Your Regional Member Relations Manager www.merit.edu/memberrelations/ l Send email to: info@merit.edu Project Communication

15. Questions info@merit.edu