Three Rural Providers Band Together To Build 2,000-Mile Fiber Route
The Heartland Fiber Project would link Denver and Chicago across seven states.
May 19, 2026 – Three regional backbone fiber providers announced a joint $700 million investment Friday to expand high-capacity fiber infrastructure across the American heartland.
Dakota Carrier Network, Range and WIN Technology said the Heartland Fiber Project would span Colorado, Wyoming, Montana, North Dakota, Minnesota, Wisconsin and Illinois, targeting rapidly growing connectivity demand from AI hyperscale data center development across a region offering available power, land and lower cooling costs.
Construction is set to begin this summer, with deployment expected over the next one to two years.
"This collaboration allows us to deliver scale and resiliency more efficiently than any one provider could alone," said Rob Johnstone, chief executive officer of Range.
The network would include high-fiber-count infrastructure and additional conduit capacity for future expansion, giving carriers the ability to scale bandwidth quickly as AI workloads drive demand for faster, higher-capacity connections between data centers.
Scott Hoffmann, chief executive officer of WIN Technology, said the project would strengthen connectivity into Chicago and western markets as hyperscale activity grows in Wisconsin.
Seth Arndorfer, chief executive officer of Dakota Carrier Network, said the project would help the region compete for hyperscaler investment. "It will ensure that we can meet the needs of businesses, including hyperscalers, looking to invest in our state," he said.
The announcement is part of a broader wave of fiber infrastructure expansion driven by AI demand. Zayo recently acquired Crown Castle's fiber assets in a similar bid to expand enterprise and data center connectivity, a sign that providers large and small are moving aggressively to position themselves for AI-era traffic growth.
