COLDWATER, MI (WTVB) – Last May’s internet outage for Coldwater B.P.U. customers had led to a change of suppliers.
The Coldwater B.P.U. Board of Directors approved a five-year contract with Merit Network, Incorporated of Ann Arbor on Wednesday night at an annual cost of just over $61,000 for redundant internet connectivity.
The CBPU had a three-year contract for internet services with MetroNet which expired in May of 2024. MetroNet had been operating on a month-to-month basis with the CBPU since that time.
CBPU Internet Service Provider Operations Manager Bob Worley said they explored options to provide better redundancy for their main internet circuits.
He added they were not happy with MetroNet’s response and the way they addressed May’s systemwide outage.
Metronet’s primary line was affected by a tornado on May 15 in Battle Creek. Their secondary line was affected by storms that hit the following night.
The CBPU received three quotes from Cogent, MetroNet and Merit Network.
It was felt Merit Network provided a true redundant path in the case of an extreme emergency and they will also provide three different routes out of the City.
Worley said Cogent’s quote of just over $60,000 was slightly less than the one submitted by Merit Network but they would traverse the same path that Aspen Networks is currently using and therefore would not build any additional redundancy in the CBPU system.
MetroNet submitted a $84,000 quote and planned to utilize the same path.
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