Three Rural Providers Band Together To Build 2,000-Mile Fiber Route

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.