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Together with the Joint Townships Telecommunications Advisory Committee, the BIA is hosting a community forum on broadband at the BIC Center at 5:30 on May 23rd. The forum will be an opportunity to learn about a once-in-a-lifetime grant opportunity to obtain funding for a Fiber to the Home (FTTH) project on the island. With a pending grant application to make the Island a waypoint on a fiber link from the UP to the LP, the upcoming BEAD grant process present an important opportunity for the island. Unlike past grant programs that have been oversubscribed by factors of 10 or more, the BEAD program will allocate $42+ billion in funding nationwide and about $1.6 billion in funding in Michigan. Federal and state officials say the Michigan funding will be sufficient to bring fiber broadband to all unserved and underserved areas of the state. All of the island fits in those categories according to current versions of the maps that will be used. To bring a grant home, the Island will need to show substantial community interest in bringing fiber to the Island. And, it will need to prepare and submit a grant application.

The Community Broadband meeting will be an opportunity to learn about the BEAD grant and to gather input on the best proposal to make in that application. It is your chance to make history by helping plan for the future.

Please join us in person if possible at 5:30 p.m., Tuesday May23rd, in the auditorium at the Beaver Island Community Center. If you are not able to join in person, you may join by video conference using the following link: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/2922600731?pwd=VVliRFVuMWp4SG9Qemw1OTlSOWE2dz09 or https://bit.ly/3OjxF7R You may also join by audio conference using the following information:

Dial: +1 312 626 6799 US (Chicago)
Meeting ID: 868 5089 5643
Passcode: 759678
One tap mobile: +13126266799,,86850895643#,,,,*759678# US (Chicago)

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