Merit Network BTOP Status Robert Duncan & Pete Miller Director of Network Operations

REACH-3MC Project l $130 MM Project l $102 MM Federal Government l $8 MM Merit l $20 MM Commercial Sub- recipients l ~2300 miles of backbone fiber- optic cable l Equal access to Information throughout Michigan l Over 100 schools/libraries directly connected l Fiber is a possibility for hundreds more l Homes and businesses served by sub-recipients and their customers

REACH 3MC Route Breakdown l Round I Routes are in four corridors: l Southern Corridor, Monroe to Benton Harbor l Western Corridor, Benton Harbor to Mackinaw City l Central Corridor, Mount Pleasant to Hillman l Eastern Corridor, Midland to Oscoda l Within each corridor fiber segments from city to city were defined l Intermediate cities were selected for “drive by” to allow future service to under served areas

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

REACH 3MC, II and Existing Merit Backbone l Merit’s existing 1,600 mile fiber network is shown in GREEN l Round I ARRA funded new build is shown in BLUE l Round II ARRA proposed new build is shown in RED l Both join current Merit fiber network in key locations l MonroeHillsdale l Mt. PleasantMuskegon l MidlandHillman l Big RapidsGrand Rapids

REACH 3MC Network Specifications l 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 basis l Lateral builds into Anchor Tenants will be fewer fiber l Builds into Anchor Tenants off of the main fiber trunk are budgeted separately from the backbone l Merit is taking count across the segments l On one portion of the Southern Route Merit has 12 count l SMF-28e or equivalent fiber will be used l Low loss across DWDM bands l Reasonable price point l No special optronics required

Fiber Utilization Planning l Merit will immediately light two pair of fiber l One fiber pair will be lit with long haul DWDM 10ge electronics and connect major sites l Approximately 150 to 200 miles apart l No mid segment node insertions planned l The second fiber pair will be lit with CWDM 1ge electronics l This will be the access network l Many mid segment insertions planned l Driving signal both directions to nearest 10g node l Remaining dark fiber will be available for future network expansion and lease 10g North Node 10g South Node 1g Mid Node

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

Collaboration l Duluth Spur Connecting To BOREASnet l Green Bay Spur Connecting To Wiscnet and BOREASnet l UW-Extensions (Popular Wis. To Superior) l Build Will Utilize Existing Infrastructure l 20 Miles of Manistee ISD? Conduit l Grand Haven School District Conduit l All Band/ Hillman Conduit l Bridge Authority l Build Collaborations l Bloomingdale Telephone l Northeast Co-OP Duluth

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

Thank You