On August 25, 2011, Enventis Telecom, a subsidiary of HickoryTech, held a groundbreaking ceremony to celebrate the start of construction on its middle-mile project. Held at Rice’s Point in Duluth, Minn., the event had approximately 80 people in attendance. Several speakers, including U.S. Senator Amy Klobuchar and Minnesota Lt. Gov. Yvonne Prettner Solon, delivered remarks about the advantages of broadband and how Enventis’ new network will benefit 36 rural communities across 23 counties. State and company leaders performed the ceremonial first dig to formally launch the initial phase of the project.

Enventis’ Greater Minnesota Broadband Collaborative Project will bring affordable high-capacity Ethernet services to unserved and underserved rural areas. The new network will connect approximately 70 community anchor institutions to the Internet at speeds of up to 10GB.

Construction began on the Minneapolis/St. Paul to Duluth/Superior route, with Enventis laying fiber lines that will be part of a new 428-mile open access network. As of early December 2011, nearly 171 innerduct miles and 73 miles of fiber have been completed. Enventis expects to finish construction in the fall of 2013.

This project is creating jobs in construction, engineering, and project management.

Last Updated: December 23, 2011