Merit NetworkBTOP Status

Robert Duncan & Pete MillerDirector of Network

Operations

REACH-3MC Project $130 MM Project

l $102 MM Federal Governmentl $8 MM Meritl $20 MM Commercial Sub-

recipients ~2300 miles of backbone

fiber-optic cable Equal access to Information

throughout Michigan Over 100 schools/libraries

directly connected Fiber is a possibility for

hundreds more Homes and businesses served

by sub-recipients and their customers

REACH 3MC Route Breakdown

Round I Routes are in four corridors:l Southern Corridor, Monroe to Benton Harborl Western Corridor, Benton Harbor to

Mackinaw Cityl Central Corridor, Mount Pleasant to Hillmanl Eastern Corridor, Midland to Oscoda

Within each corridor fiber segments from city to city were defined

Intermediate cities were selected for “drive by” to allow future service to under served areas

REACH 3MC II Route Breakdown

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

Additional spurs from the main path:

l Green Bay spur, connects to Wiscnet and BOREASnet

l Duluth spur, connects to BOREASnetl Houghton spur, connects to MTU

REACH 3MC, II and Existing Merit Backbone

Merit’s existing 1,600 mile fiber network is shown in GREEN

Round I ARRA funded new build is shown in BLUE

Round II ARRA proposed new build is shown in RED

Both join current Merit fiber network in key locations

l Monroe • Hillsdalel Mt. Pleasant •

Muskegonl Midland • Hillmanl Big Rapids • Grand

Rapids

REACH 3MC Network Specifications Backbone network varies from 60 to 156

count across the entire primary footprint

l Distributed across ?? partners l Partners have ownership of various count of fiber on

a per segment basisl Lateral builds into Anchor Tenants will be fewer fiberl Builds into Anchor Tenants off of the main fiber

trunk are budgeted separately from the backbone Merit is taking 12-18 count across the

segmentsl On one portion of the Southern Route Merit has 12

count SMF-28e or equivalent fiber will be used

l Low loss across DWDM bandsl Reasonable price pointl No special optronics required

Fiber Utilization Planning

Merit will immediately light two pair of fiber One fiber pair will be lit with long haul DWDM

10ge electronics and connect major sitesl Approximately 150 to 200 miles apartl No mid segment node insertions planned

The second fiber pair will be lit with CWDM 1ge electronics

l This will be the access networkl Many mid segment insertions plannedl Driving signal both directions to nearest 10g node

Remaining dark fiber will be available for future network expansion and lease

10g North Node

10g South Node

1g Mid Node

1g Mid Node

Implementation Strategy

Completed Environmental Assessment For Round I

Completed Engineering For Round I Sourced the optical networking HW to ADVA Completed Round I Construction RFP Will Work With 5 or 6 Construction Firms Approximately 20 Construction Crews Running Build Out From Existing Network

Collaboration

Duluth Spur Connecting To BOREASnet Green Bay Spur Connecting To Wiscnet and BOREASnet UW-Extensions (Popular Wis. To Superior) Build Will Utilize Existing Infrastructure

l 20 Miles of Manistee ISD? Conduitl Grand Haven School District Conduitl All Band/ Hillman Conduitl Bridge Authority

Build Collaborationsl Bloomingdale Telephonel Northeast Co-OP Duluth

Lessons Learned

Environmental Assessment / FONSI RFP Everything / Sole Source Justification Documentation 250000 Docs Governmental Regulations and Requirements Permitting Collaboration Is Critical

Thank You