Michigan Broadband to acquire Educational Access Network assets in $21 million deal

Michigan Broadband Services will acquire “substantially all assets” of the Educational Access Network from Northern Michigan University’s if the agreement between the organizations closes. MBS would receive licensed 2.5 GHz Educational Broadband Service spectrum covering portions of 41 counties, Nokia AirScale radio equipment deployed across more than 70 tower sites, licensed microwave facilities, and related network infrastructure. EAN has approximately 7,500 subscribers and generates about $2.5 million annually. MBU is a subsidiary of publicly traded MachTen. The Upper Peninsula Telephone Company, a subsidiary of Michigan Broadband, will pay NMU $21 million for the acquired assets. The transaction will be funded through Broadband Equity, Access, and Deployment program grant proceeds awarded to UPTC and financing from the National Cooperative Services Corporation.