PFN, 123NET Land IMPACC Funding

123Net and Peninsula Fiber Networks will be teaming up for a substantial middle mile effort up in the Great Lakes region. The NTIA has awarded federal dollars for the Infrastructure for Michigan’s Peninsula and Critical Crossings (IMPACC) project, with PFN acting as the lead recipient and 123Net as the sub-recipient.

The project will build out some 535 route miles of network through the Michigan counties of Berrien, Van Buren, Allegan, Lapeer, Macomb, St. Clair, and Genesee, touching many underserved communities along the way. It will also connect back to Chicago via the wet route – meaning under Lake Michigan. Two sub-lake cables will be constructed between 123NET’s data center in Grand Rapids and destinations over in the Windy City. Also part of the deal are a cable between Charlevoix and Guilliver via Beaver Island, providing an alternate route to Michigan’s Upper Peninsula.

The overall project will cost some $87.5M, with $61M coming from the grant and the balance being supplied by PFN and 123NET. The two Michigan infrastructure companies have been working together a lot lately, pairing PFN’s reach in the north with 123NET’s depth in the southern part of the state to get things done.  In this case, each will own the part they are constructing, enabling both companies to add depth and breadth to their footprints where they might not otherwise have found an economic reason to do so.

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Categories: Federal contracts · Metro fiber · Undersea cables