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GLADSTONE -- A lease agreement between Northern Michigan University (NMU) and the city of Gladstone will allow NMU to use a cell tower in Gladstone for its Educational Access Network (EAN), a LTE service provided by the school. The agreement was approved during a regular meeting of the Gladstone City Commission Monday.
The commission voted unanimously to approve the agreement, effective immediately. NMU will not be charged for use of the cell tower; in exchange, the city of Gladstone will be able to utilize EAN service for free.
Before the vote, commissioners heard a presentation from two NMU representatives. NMU Director of Broadcast and AV Services Eric Smith provided an overview of the EAN.
Smith said the EAN is meant to increase access to broadband internet and educational resources in the Upper Peninsula -- and, more specifically, to alleviate the effects that unequal access to broadband can have on area students.
"To help level the playing field, NMU decided that we would do what we could to address the problem," he said. According to the presentation, 25 percent of U.P. households have little or no broadband.
Three separate plans are available for users of the EAN. Smith said these include a plan for community members, a plan for students of "educational affiliates" (including colleges and K-12 schools, among others), and a plan for NMU alumni and U.S. military veterans. People enrolled in the EAN have full access to learning modules and internet service; subscribers to the community and alumni/veteran plans are required to complete at least one module per year to continue their service.
Smith went on to show a map of what the EAN's service area is expected to look like in Gladstone. He said this will be relatively wide-ranging, especially when combined with overlapping service areas.
"You can see that it's fairly robust," he said.
NMU Director of EAN Operations Don Salo showcased some of the equipment that people in the area will be able to use to connect to the EAN. Equipment shown at the meeting included an Ethernet antenna, a smaller mobile unit designed for home use, and a portable wireless hotspot.
"Those are some of the options we've got," Salo said. Users of the EAN are able to lease or purchase these devices.
In addition to this equipment, Smith said the city of Gladstone will be able to make use of another device.
"We have a unit that's designed for vehicle mounts," he said.
As an example, City Manager Darcy Long said Gladstone's fire department could utilize this unit.
"The fire department doesn't have broadband in any of their vehicles, and so it's a way to enhance their service as a department," he said.
Attendees were able to ask questions about the EAN during the meeting. In response to a question on how Gov. Rick Snyder's plan to provide universal access to high-speed internet in Michigan will relate to the network, Smith said it is compatible with these efforts.
"Our project is a part of that," he said. NMU is using a $6.5 million loan from the Michigan Economic Development Corporation towards the network's construction, and the university has committed $3 million of its own funds to building the EAN with the goal of making the network self-sustaining.
Smith also responded to an attendee who asked if EAN plans have data caps. According to Smith, the EAN does not include data caps or data throttling.
"That's just plain incompatible with education," he said.