A group that wants county funding to help bring wider broadband Internet access to people in Mackinac County has found -- for the second time -- that commissioners are taking a "wait and see" approach. The group was told again at the Mackinac County Board of Commissioners meeting Thursday, October 22, to find support from other neighboring counties first, and then come back for help. Mackinac County commissioners are supporting the "Coalition 4 Limitless Broadband" group with $20,000, contingent upon the group getting Chippewa County, Luce County, and several others on board first.

Coalition 4 Limitless Broadband had first approached the county October 9 with a request for $40,000 for its Internet proposal, but commissioners, while agreeing with the concept, wanted assurance that other area agencies are also on board for the regional plan.

The group's efforts to attract Chippewa County commissioners to develop a working business plan to deliver broadband throughout the EUP has met with resistance there, said Tim Maylone, a representative of the coalition and general manager of Cherry Capital Communications. Like the request made to Mackinac County, the group had requested $40,000 from Chippewa to develop the method and submit a grant application to the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) to fund it. The Chippewa board voted against the support, 4 - 2, Mr. Maylone said, although two commissioners who voted no did so because they wanted more information about Cherry Capital Communications.

The group is still confident Chippewa County will join the plan, Mr. Maylone said, once more information is made available. He suggested a greater showing of support from Mackinac County would make the process easier and requested the commissioners support the project with $20,000 to demonstrate their commitment.

For the second time it has come before the board, Mackinac County commissioners were cautious about the proposition. Commissioner Carl Frazier said he would feel more comfortable about dedicating the money if Chippewa was on board with the plan. Others asked why the group needs money from the county to develop a broadband network in the first place. Mr. Maylone said the group could do it on its own, but receiving money from the counties would greatly speed up the project . Its goal is to bring speedy Internet access to more people.

Coalition 4 Limitless Broadband is composed of Cherry Capital Communications, Nodin Communications, and Aspen Wireless Technologies.