Wireless Internet service provider Air Advantage based in Frankenmuth, Michigan has been awarded $64 million. The award is a combination of American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) grants and loans. The award will create a wireless broadband and fiber-optic Internet network in Michigan’s lower peninsula according to an article on MLive.com.
In
addition to the federal grants and loans, Air Advantage will contribute more than $10 million toward the project. “A big part of the (federal) grant is about providing people with more options, more affordable Internet access,” Dawn Zimmer, director of sales and marketing for Air Advantage told MLive. “Even in 2010, it’s shocking the number of people who have no or very few Internet options.”
Award
The $64.25 million award consists of $31.95 million in grants and $32.3 million in loans. The loans must be used to buy capital equipment such as installation and service trucks, computers, transmitters and receivers. The award cannot be used for salaries or for the hiring of new staff, according to David Simmet, vice president of operations at Air Advantage in the MLive article.
With this funding Air Advantage will add more than 200 signal transmitting towers to the company’s existing network of 65 towers. Many of the existing towers are installed on area water towers, grain silos and cell phone towers. The project will serve 13 counties — Saginaw, Sanilac, Bay, Genesee, Huron, Lapeer, Livingston, Macomb, Midland, Oakland, Shiawassee, Saint Claire, and Tuscola.
The Regional Educational Media Center 10 (REMC 10) will see direct benefits from the stimulus funds awarded. About $9 million of the award to Air Advantage is earmarked for constructing a fiber optic network. The 350-mile fiber-optic network will run throughout the Thumb. The partners will contract the construction to a company with expertise in fiber-optic installation. The high-speed network will connect 26 school districts, governmental facilities and Central Dispatch in Huron, Sanilac and Tuscola counties, according to Robert Frost, director of REMC-10. Frost said the network will allow for more collaboration. Partners will be able to get collaborative pricing for network devices and services like servers, content filters, firewalls, and more. It will also allow for distance learning through high-definition video conference units.
Connects existing networks in Michigan
The new network will connect to existing networks in Bay, Lapeer, St. Clair and Saginaw counties. It will allow for a direct, high-speed connection to other schools, colleges and universities throughout the state. “…they are going to … change the face of the eastern side of Michigan,” Sheila Stamiris, director of the Frankenmuth downtown development authority told MLive. “It really is incredible.”
The Air Advantage estimates it will hire for an additional 142 positions. The new employees will provide equipment installation, technical support, and billing. The firm expects to start hiring in the next few months. This would be a 600% increase in jobs since the firm started in 2002. Ms. Stamiris said this likely will put Air Advantage among the city’s 10 largest employers. “They will be doing a lot of things using Frankenmuth as a home base and we are extremely grateful to be in that position,” Ms. Stamiris told MLive.
Ralph Bach has been in IT long enough to know better and has blogged from his Bach Seat about IT, careers and anything else that catches his attention since 2005. You can follow him at LinkedIn, Facebook and Twitter. Email the Bach Seat here.