The Lyndon Township Broadband Implementation Committee’s Subcommittee for ISP and Bandwidth Selection in conjunction with CCG Consulting has been meeting over the past several months to establish criteria for selection of an ISP operator, issue a request for information (RFI) for an ISP operator, and seek clarifying information based on the responses to this RFI. Based on the information gathered by this subcommittee, the Implementation Committee discussed and approved a recommendation to the Lyndon Township Board at their public meeting on May 3, 2018. The Implementation Committee recommended that the Lyndon Township Board enter into contract negotiations with Midwest Energy and Communications (MEC) to the be ISP operator for Lyndon Township’s fiber optic network.  This recommendation was approved by the township board at their May 10 meeting.

MEC (www.teammidwest.com) is a 501c12, not-for-profit, member-owned electric and communications cooperative serving more than 35,000 residential, agricultural, commercial and industrial customers in southwestern and southeastern Michigan, northern Indiana and Ohio since 1937. MEC’s core service is the distribution of electricity, but today’s organization is also a significant provider of telecommunications products and services. MEC currently provides broadband internet service via fiber to the home to about 6,400 customers and adds approximately 50 new fiber customers every week. MEC has 125 employees and is headquartered out of Cassopolis, MI.

Some of the services provided by MEC will include:

1.      IP Backbone connectivity in sufficient capacity to provide a high-quality user experience for all levels of Internet Access speeds being offered by the Township, including 1Gb service.

2.      Customer onboarding, subscriber activation, and provisioning

3.      Customer support services, including both a 24×7 call center and onsite support.

4.      Customer billing and collection services – including all taxes, fees and surcharges required as part of regulatory requirements

Initial financial modeling with MEC suggests that offerings for broadband service from MEC will be in line with the pricing projections of the feasibility study.  Please note that the pricing currently listed on the MEC website does not apply to Lyndon Township residents.

Lyndon Township and MEC are currently working to finalize the ISP operator contract and financial modeling. Once these are completed, Lyndon Township and MEC will be working together to sign up all township residents who are interested in receiving service.