As classrooms shuttered, businesses asked employees to work remotely, criminal cases were tried via videoconference, and even many medical appointments took place over Zoom, thousands of Northeast Michiganders found their homes and businesses lacked the infrastructure necessary to log on with the rest of the world.

The area has seen some improvement since then.

The Presque Isle Electric and Gas Co-op has connected 3,800 homes and businesses to its new fiber system since 2022, for example, and companies such as Allband and Centurylink continue to expand fiber to more users in Northeast Michigan.

Still, despite millions of dollars in state and federal investments, about a third of the homes and businesses across Alpena, Presque Isle, Montmorency, and Alcona counties still lack access to modern internet speeds, according to the Michigan High-Speed Internet Office.

News Photo by Mike Gonzalez Mia Valley, a nurse at MyMichigan Medical Center Alpena, shows how a telemedicine cart works on Thursday at the hospital. The cart is used for patients who need to talk with medical officials in other MyMichigan Health facilities.

The state aims to connect every home and business in Michigan to reliable, affordable, high-speed internet using nearly $1.6 billion in new federal money, but that process likely won’t wrap up until 2030.

In the meantime, thousands of families across the region struggle to interact fully with our increasingly digital world.

For students, for example, “seven hours a day to try to fit in everything is challenging for school, especially students that are trying to catch up and close the learning gap a little bit,” Alcona Community Schools Superintendent Dan O’Connor said. “Once that clock ends at 3:10 p.m. or 3:15 p.m., that’s the end of their opportunity to learn, especially if they don’t have internet access.

“There’s been a lot of talk about internet being a utility, much like electricity, and that’s probably the direction things need to go,” O’Connor added. “It’s almost a non-negotiable at this point.”

‘DON’T HAVE A LOT OF ACCESS OR OPTIONS’

Jessica Luther, assistant director of the Alpena County Library, said many people visit the library to use its public computers or bring their own devices and use the library’s free Wi-Fi.

“I know some of our patrons who are farther out in the county and don’t have a lot of access or options for internet, they come here to do basic household things,” Luther said. “They pay bills, look for jobs, update resumes, look for housing, signing up for health care coverage, scheduling doctor’s appointments, and then there are people who come in to do simple things like their banking.”

Thousands of Northeast Michiganders can’t do those things at home, and Northeast Michigan is more disconnected than the rest of the state.

The chart below shows the share of homes and businesses in each county with inadequate internet connection and no connection at all. Story continues below graphic.

As of last summer, 24% of homes in Alpena County, 47% of homes in Presque Isle County, 37% of homes in Montmorency County, and 35% of homes in Alcona County lacked internet with download and upload speeds the federal government considers minimal, according to the most recent data from the Federal Communications Commission.

Just 8% of homes across all of Michigan lacked that basic internet.

Even fewer Northeast Michigan businesses were connected, with 47% of Alpena County businesses, 68% of Presque Isle County businesses, 39% of Montmorency County businesses, and 55% of Alcona County businesses lacking basic internet speeds, according to the FCC.

About 14% of businesses across Michigan lacked basic internet.

In total, about 16,500 places in Northeast Michigan lacked high-speed internet, according to the state broadband office.

The FCC data is based on input from both internet service providers and the public. The FCC only began accepting public challenges to internet service provider data in summer 2022, making federal data published before then incomparable to the more recent information.

The FCC data shows little to no improvement in Alpena, Presque Isle, or Montmorency counties between summer 2022 and last summer. In Alcona County, however, the 35% of homes without adequate internet speeds last summer was down from about 50% the summer before.

The data is “far, far better than it used to be,” but still likely overstates internet coverage, said Eric Frederick, chief connectivity officer at the Michigan High-Speed Internet Office.

Frederick’s office last month launched a new process through which local governments and others can challenge internet service providers’ claims of broadband coverage. That process is expected to take about four months. When it’s completed, the state hopes to have a more accurate picture of where internet access is lacking, giving Frederick’s office its starting line as it aims to connect everyone within the next six years.

“We need to know where the FCC data is wrong, so we can make sure no one is left behind,” Frederick said.

‘NEED TO OFFSET THOSE MARKET DYNAMICS’

America has mostly allowed private companies to build out broadband infrastructure, Frederick said. Private companies build where they can sign on the most people and get the most return for their investment, which has left out many smaller towns and the rural areas that surround them.

“We’re talking about the most rural and remote places in the state that have been left behind by the private sector,” Frederick said. “It’s a density, market-driven game, and those of us who live in the rural parts of the state were not part of that market. Until COVID. Then we had to be. We need to offset those market dynamics.”

While the state and federal governments have for years offered grants for broadband expansion, President Joe Biden’s administration last summer announced $42.5 billion through the Broadband Equity, Access, and Deployment program to connect all American homes and businesses to high-speed internet by 2030.

Michigan received just less than $1.6 billion, the fourth-most among the 50 states, which Frederick said shows “we have a lot of work to do.”

After the challenge process wraps up, the state will seek bidders — internet service providers such as Spectrum, mostly, but also local governments and nonprofits — to build the infrastructure necessary to bring high-speed internet to places that currently lack it.

Ground should break on the first projects by mid- to late-2025, Frederick said. Contractors then have four years to build, with the possibility of a one-year extension, meaning the last home probably won’t get connected until 2030.

Many homes may get internet before then through other programs already underway and funded by existing state and federal programs. Michigan High-Speed Internet Office maps show much of Northeast Michigan served by existing programs, including the FCC’s Rural Digital Opportunity Fund and Enhanced Alternative Connect America Cost Model.

The BEAD program is “batting cleanup” on those other programs, filling in gaps left after they’ve installed what they can install, Frederick said.

Some have criticized Michigan’s BEAD plan.

The Washington-based Citizens Against Government Waste singled out Michigan’s plan for its high per-unserved-location cost and for a broad definition of something called “community anchor institutions” guaranteed to get high-speed internet. Michigan’s plan would guarantee internet access at several stadiums, convention centers, and even zoos.

“Many of those institutions should not qualify, based on the program’s guidance,” Theodore Bolema, a senior fellow at the Midland-based Mackinac Center for Public Policy, wrote in a blog post in February. “Stadiums, convention centers, and many of the privately owned, for-profit businesses on the list are found in areas that already have the greatest access to high-speed internet.”

Frederick said the state knows many of those places already have access.

“I’m not going to build to them if they already have service,” he said.

‘THERE’S THIS DIVIDE’

MyMichigan Health, the Midland-based owner of the Alpena hospital, provides easier access for patients with places known as “virtual care visit locations,” facilities in which patients can virtually meet up with far-away doctors with medical equipment that communicates patient vitals to the physician.

But Amber Alexander, library director of the Presque Isle District Library, said some older residents in Presque Isle County can’t travel to the hospital or other facilities, so they turn to the library.

Alexander said Northeast Michigan faces problems beyond the ability to connect to the Web.

“The older population isn’t quite there yet to have that knowledge and digital understanding, so there’s this divide there,” Alexander said. “And, quite honestly, I know young people who don’t know what they should know for computer literacy. So what happens when they get older and they refuse to learn the latest technology? We want to help, but we don’t want to be there to hear your medical problems in detail.”

In addition to installing the infrastructure so people can connect to the internet, the state plans to take steps to make sure they will.

First, any entity that receives BEAD funding has to offer a low-cost internet subscription.

In Michigan, Frederick said, the goal is for internet service providers to offer a $30-a-month subscription to low-income households. The FCC’s Affordable Connectivity Program, meanwhile, offers a $30-a-month internet subscription subsidy to low-income households. The state hopes to pair those two programs together so those who can’t afford their internet subscription can log on for free.

The only problem is that Congress hasn’t renewed funding for Affordable Connectivity, so that program may not exist after this month.

Some 1 million Michiganders currently use that program, Frederick said.

Cost is the primary reason people who have access to the internet don’t sign up, he said.

The state also plans to leverage federal funds received through the federal Digital Equity Act to remove other barriers, such as a lack of digital know-how. The state’s draft Digital Equity Plan says the state will partner with libraries, schools, and others to help train Michiganders how to use the internet.

“We really have to have, like, a one-two punch,” Frederick said.

HOW TO CHALLENGE INTERNET CONNECTION CLAIMS

The Michigan High-Speed Internet Office has opened a 30-day window for the public to challenge internet service providers’ claims of internet availability across the state. Challenges will be accepted through April 23.

Only local units of government, tribal governments, nonprofits, and internet service providers can file formal challenges, but the general public can participate.

Visit MichiganBroadbandMap.com and search for your address to find out the upload and download speeds internet service providers claim to be available at your home or business. If you think those numbers are wrong, you can visit tinyurl.com/MIHIchallenge to learn how to take a speed test, the results of which will be shared by the High-Speed Internet Office with an eligible challenger.

ABOUT THIS SERIES

In 2020, at the onset of the coronavirus pandemic, when much of the world’s business was forced online because in-person contact was deemed unsafe, The News uncovered the lackluster connectivity among homes and businesses in Northeast Michigan.

Four years later, The News wanted to see what — if anything — had changed.

After weeks of reporting, this is what they found:

* TODAY: Much of Northeast Michigan remains disconnected.

* MONDAY: A look at efforts to help Northeast Michigan connect.

* TUESDAY: A look at how area groups help Northeast Michiganders overcome a lack of internet access.

Michigan’s draft Digital Equity Plan lays out how the state aims to help Michiganders connect to the Web once infrastructure is installed.

Michigan Digital Equity Plan by JustinHinkley on Scribd

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