Zayo completes Anoka County, Minn., middle mile network

Zayo has put the final touches on the "Connect Anoka County" project, a middle mile network that will provide connectivity across unserved and underserved northwest, northeast, and southeast areas in Anoka County, Minn.

The buildout in Anoka County was funded by a $13.4 million grant from the Federal Reinvestment and Recovery Act (FRRA) Broadband Opportunity Program it was awarded in 2010.

Similar to other middle mile initiatives such as Massachusetts' MassBroadband 123 middle mile network, the Connect Anoka County project will provide fiber-based services to a number of different entities in the county including government, businesses, schools, community institutions and local service providers in Minnesota.

Chris Morley, president of Ethernet at Zayo, said in a release that "The network enables access to Ethernet service, Direct Internet Access, Private Line, Wavelengths and Dark Fiber for 145 local public facilities, and other local broadband users."

Before the middle mile fiber network was completed, several parts of Anoka County could only get copper-based T1 or DSL services from a local telco. Since this network build is an extension of its broader national fiber network, Anoka County can get higher speed access to Zayo's network footprint across 45 states, Washington, D.C., and seven countries.

Zayo has been an active participant in using broadband grants to extend its services into hard-to-serve areas. In addition to Anoka County, Zayo received a $25 million grant to extend its fiber network to 80 rural communities in 21 higher education institutions in Indiana.

For more:
- see the release

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