BEAVER ISLAND, MI – Technicians recently installed roadside fiber optic cables on Beaver Island as the remote community in the middle of Lake Michigan prepares for future broadband internet access.
In recent weeks, utility workers for Merit Network bored the underground pathways and buried fiber conduit alongside roadways on Beaver Island. The fiber network connects key facilities on the island, including the community’s K-12 school, library, health center, and several sites owned by Central Michigan University.
The newly installed fiber is expected to improve internet connectivity for the facilities on the system, which will link to a microwave tower in the Upper Peninsula via a tower on the island. Internet speeds on the island are currently much slower than on the mainland.
Workers prepare fiber conduit for underground installation on Sept. 23, 2025, alongside East Side Drive on Beaver Island, as part of an internet connectivity project by Merit Network. (Sheri McWhirter | MLive.com)Sheri McWhirter
Bobbi Welke, St. James Township supervisor, said work on the microwave equipment continues and the system could be operational as early as the end of November or December.
Other community anchor facilities not directly along the fiber route are expected to connect to the system by using small microwave radio equipment. That includes the two township halls, community center, radio station, historical society and two airports.
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This work positions Beaver Island residents for future broadband services when an expected middle-mile fiber project reaches the island in 2028, said Barnaby Pung, Merit’s communications director.
Officials expect this new enhanced microwave system to remain in place to provide redundancy when the anticipated broadband cable network reaches the island.
Underwater broadband cables are expected to connect to Beaver Island in 2028 at the Central Michigan University Biological Research Station, shown along the island’s east shoreline in this file photo from July 2023. (Neil Blake | MLive.com)Neil Blake | MLive.com
Planning and federal permitting remains underway for the underwater cables coming to Beaver Island in a few years.
Peninsula Fiber Network won a major federal infrastructure grant to make the island a midway connection point in northern Lake Michigan for a broadband route linking Michigan’s Upper and Lower peninsulas.
The underwater cables will be installed below the lakebed to reduce the likelihood of damage from severe weather, ship anchor strikes, and other challenges.
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Meanwhile, the nonprofit Beaver Island Association received a Michigan rural readiness grant earlier this year to plan for last-mile connections to homes and businesses across the island.
Beaver Island is home to about 600 year-round residents, though there are thousands of regular summer residents and visitors.
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