April 4, 2024

County staff, on behalf of the Calhoun County Broadband Task Force, are working closely with state and industry leaders on preparing for the $1.6B coming to the state in federal Broadband Equity, Access, and Deployment (BEAD) grant funds, which will be invested to expand high-speed internet networks. These funds are specifically available for locations that do not have “served” internet options with speeds of at least 100/20 download/upload megabits per second (Mbps). 

The eligibility of these locations is determined by Federal Communications Commission (FCC) maps and finalized by the state’s Michigan High Speed Internet (MIHI) Office. Before applications for BEAD will be available by MIHI, we have an opportunity to make sure that these maps capture the maximum availability for our residents. That opportunity is called the Map Challenge Process. 

Michigan’s Map Challenge Process is currently open until Tuesday, April 23. Between now and April 23, individuals along with local governments including the Calhoun County Government can challenge the information on the State’s map. The County intends to do our part toward internet expansion so that as many households as possible will receive reliable, high-speed Internet in the next five years.

Have you been told you can't receive internet service? 

Do you believe your internet speeds are slower than they should be?

You can view and challenge the map at merit.edu/challenge

First, the County is checking individual addresses against the Internet Service Providers (ISP) websites to see if they suggest that internet service is available to that location. In some cases, the websites will reveal that service is not actually available, even though the FCC maps say that this address is “served” by that provider. This is a successful availability challenge. It is also a successful challenge if the website says service “may” be available. 

This process includes reviewing a list of over 12,000 addresses in Calhoun County where we believe the maps incorrectly state “served” coverage. We are gathering evidence to support our challenges and submitting them to MIHI. If we find six challenges per census block group, that triggers an “area challenge,” which requires the ISP to demonstrate that they serve the entire census block group.

At this time, we believe we have evidence to successfully challenge 45 census block groups, which is a step toward adding more than 10,000 addresses to what the map originally shows as being eligible for BEAD grant funding. 

A second component of the challenge effort involves gauging internet speeds to see if they are as stated on the FCC maps. This is where we’ll need the community’s help. The goal is to identify households where the map states 100/20 mbps is available, but in practice they are not experiencing those “served” speeds. This is prevalent in households that have fixed wireless, an internet technology that receives connection broadcast from towers, rather than wired directly to the home.

If you have fixed wireless and want to challenge that your speeds are consistently at 100/20 mbps, Merit Network provides a platform where you can officially challenge that data. The Merit platform, found at merit.edu/challenge, guides you through a form where you fill out information about your internet provider, then asks you to download a plug-in onto your Chrome and Edge browsers, which will gather the data necessary over multiple days to submit a successful challenge. 

Merit Network is a Michigan network, security, and community services non-profit that is working directly with MIHI and local governments on this process. The Calhoun County Broadband Task Force trusts this organization with this process. Although it’s cumbersome to add the plug-in to your computer, it’s the best way to test speeds and gather the data necessary to challenge the map. 

Calhoun County staff will challenge by the April 23 deadline as many locations as possible. Then, discussions with Internet Service Providers will begin. With this new map information, we will work with ISPs make sure solid grant applications for BEAD funds are submitted.

Successful grant applications will lead to increasing fiber networks Countywide, so that more residents have access to reliable, high-speed Internet. Learn more about this effort on the Calhoun County Broadband Task Force’s website, calhouncountymi.gov/broadband. 

For more information, contact

Calhoun County Communications Department

information@calhouncountymi.gov; 269-781-0926