Merit is an independent, 501c3 nonprofit corporation governed by 12 of the 13 public universities in Michigan. In addition to its governing member institutions, Merit’s statewide member community includes over 400 affiliate members which are comprised of private colleges, K-12 districts, library systems, healthcare providers, nonprofits, government and other public sector agencies. When Merit began their project in southeast Michigan, they sought out a trusted long-term partner that could help them scale their middle-mile broadband services in that area of the state with flexible, custom, last-mile fiber solutions.
At a glance.
Company Name
Merit
Industry Size4,000 route miles of fiber
Solutions Used
Location
Michigan
The need.
For Merit to grow and continue meeting communities’ needs in southeast Michigan, they required:
- A provider who could help expand their connectivity offerings with ease.
- A flexible, cost-effective network solution enabling diverse deployment options, total control of their fiber and unified management—something many commercial providers do not offer at any price point.
- A partner with the resources and knowledge to optimize grant funding from the National Telecommunications Infrastructure Administration (NTIA) and other sources.
- Reduced response time to network outages.
The solution.
- Working together, we deployed our Dark Fiber solution in communities across southeast Michigan to drive down infrastructure costs while enabling collaboration and future broadband expansion together.
- Our Dark Fiber solution equipped Merit with a variety of connectivity options, from lighting individual strands to complex multi-site designs, fully customized to their requirements.
- Leveraging our diverse fiber routes, Merit was able to consolidate device management, again cutting maintenance costs and simplifying workflows.
- Two concentric network rings provide diverse connections and redundancy, increasing reliability and ensuring that the network remains accessible in the event of potential issues.
Jim Moran Senior Sales EngineerWithout Crown’s resources and agility to respond quickly to new projects and circumstances, we would not have been done in time. I can’t imagine a big carrier responding in the way that Crown did.
The impact.
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The district has been able to adopt more cloud-based applications—a critical shift as the pandemic prompted remote and hybrid learning.
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DDoS Defense has shielded the city school district at least five times from potentially debilitating cyber attacks since its implementation, preventing any impact on instruction or operations.
- The district was well-prepared as they undertook an $80M renovation and a new building construction for a high school that required a new, dedicated data center.
- A network that is equipped for new bandwidth and data requirements to bring 900 new instructional spaces online.
Merit turned on 114 sites in 9 months, making this one of their most successful full-cycle projects.
Let’s talk about your connectivity needs.
Your business is unique—and so are your connectivity needs. With an individualized approach, we’ll show you how our infrastructure solutions will serve you today and prepare you for tomorrow.