On June 15, 1987, NSF issued a solicitation for the purpose of providing a T1 backbone network to connect the supercomputer centers and the mid-level networks of colleges and universities, upgrading and replacing the original 56 kbps network. The solicitation called for a cooperative agreement to run for five years with provision for the initial network to be modified as required. Proposals were received and the decision to select the proposal from Merit Network was announced in late November. Merit, representing universities in Michigan, had two corporate partners, IBM and MCI, and support from the Strategic Fund of the State of Michigan. This partnership went “live” with the network seven months later. From the Series:NSFNET: The Partnership That Changed the World