What is the Connect Up Carver Initiative?

On June 28, 2022, the Carver County Board of Commissioners approved the largest expansion in history of the CarverLink Network with the approval of the CarverLink Connect Up Carver Initiative.

The $10.5 million project leverages the County's existing publicly owned CarverLink middle-mile fiber network to construct over 350 miles of additional middle mile County owned fiber routes to serve defined geographical areas of Carver County, primarily rural in nature, identified as underserved and unserved locations.

The County's Connect Up Carver expansion follows its existing CarverLink public/private model, with the County collaborating with the private service provider Metronet, who will offer access to fiber connectivity (last mile) to all desiring residential and business locations in the project's service area with the project completion deadline of no later than December 31, 2024.

• This bi-partisan effort leverages $6.5 million in County funding through Federal stimulus programs and County funds, to expand our existing, publicly owned, middle-mile fiber network, CarverLink.
• Continues a positive and mutually beneficial public/private partnership with the service provider Metronet, which provided $4 million to fund the project's remainder and fulfills the requirement to make available service to locations within the project's service area.
• Makes fiber service available to more than 2,200 locations identified as under and/or unserved locations within the project's defined service area, which helps close the rural/city divide that exists for broadband access.
• The Connect Up Carver project, along with other CarverLink projects and efforts, strives to make available high speed fiber internet access to 100% of the business and residential locations in Carver County.
• An additional 500 locations, previously awarded to LTD Broadband through the Rural Digital Opportunity Fund (ROOF), currently sit outside of the County's ability to service. The County is continuing to work with the private sector and is also looking at other state and federal funding opportunities to try and assist in making fiber internet access available to these locations as well.