What is the Connect Up Carver Initiative (CUC)?
What is the Connect Up Carver Expansion (CUCE)?
On June 28, 2022, the Carver County Board of Commissioners approved $6.5 million for the largest expansion in history of the CarverLink Network with the approval of the CarverLink Connect Up Carver (CUC) Initiative.
The $10.5 million project leverages the County's existing publicly owned CarverLink middle mile fiber network to construct 360+ miles of additional middle mile County owned fiber routes to serve defined geographical areas of Carver County, primarily rural, identified as underserved and unserved locations.
The County's CUC Initiative follows its existing CarverLink public/private model, with the County collaborating with the private service provider Metronet, who offers access to fiber connectivity (last mile) to all desiring residential and business locations in the project's service area. This initiative has a project completion deadline of no later than December 31, 2024.
The CUC leverages $6.5 million in County funding from Federal stimulus programs and County funds, to expand our existing, publicly owned, middle mile fiber network, CarverLink.
It continues our positive and mutually beneficial public/private partnership with the service provider Metronet, which provided $4 million to fund the project's remainder and requires them to make available service to all locations within the project's defined service area.
On December 12, 2023 the Carver County Board adopted the 2024 Property Tax Levy and Budget, which included $2.5 million to expand CarverLink's ongoing Connect Up Carver rural fiber build project with the Connect Up Carver Expansion (CUCE). The CUCE constructs and additional 80+ miles of rural fiber to our remaining 440+ rural locations. When complete the CUCE, along with CarverLink's other ongoing initiatives, will complete Carver County's efforts to make fiber internet available to every rural location in Carver County that desires it.
After receiving the $2.5 million in funding, CarverLink began meticulously designing the CUCE rural build project in a manner that also made connecting up fiber in several of our cities extremely more financially viable. As such, CarverLink was able to use the provided $2.5 million in funds to secure agreements with Metronet for an overall $14.3 million project (with Metronet picking up the difference) that includes our CUCE rural build but also includes fiber builds throughout the cities of Victoria and Chanhassen in what we call the CUCE city builds.
The map with blue areas is a map showing the defined geographic areas included in the Connect Up Carver Expansion (CUCE) project. Your parcel must reside immediately within these areas to be part of the project.
It makes fiber service available to 2,200+ locations identified as under and/or unserved 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 internet access to 100% of the business and residential locations in Carver County.
The map with blue areas is a map showing the defined geographic areas included in the Connect Up Carver project. Your parcel must reside immediately within these areas to be part of the project.Carver County has created an address search tool that provides information on the County's various broadband efforts for locations throughout the County.As of September 2024 crews have completed all 360+ miles of fiber installation. In March 2023 Metronet, CarverLink's private service provider in the project, connected up their first two locations using the Connect Up Carver fiber. Throughout the 2024 season, Metronet is actively connecting customers along completed routes and continues that today. Typical timeframe for Metronet to be able to make services available to you are 90 days after fiber is installed along the roadway in front of your location.
Construction for the rural portion of the CUCE was started in summer 2024 and has a completion deadline of June 30, 2025, but weather permitting, we hope to have all rural fiber construction completed before December 31, 2024. The "city build" portion (as we call it) of the CUCE, which is fiber construction in Victoria and Chanhassen, was started in the fall of 2024 and has a deadline for completion of June 30, 2026.
