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.

Metronet Construction on the Way Flyer - TouchPoint 1_Page_1

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 requires them to make available service to all locations within the project's defined service area.
Makes fiber service available to more than 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 fiber internet access to 100% of the business and residential locations in Carver County.
Metronet is required to make up to three progressive points of contact to each serviceable address in the Connect Up Carver defined geographic area. The first will most likely be a flyer identifying construction in your area (see example to the left). The second will most likely be some type of a sales flyer. And if you haven’t signed up for service with them after the second flyer, they will make one final attempt by having door knockers come to your door asking if you desire service. Metronet has up until December 31, 3024 to complete the fiber build and make service available to anyone that desires it in the Connect Up Carver area. Plus, they are required to make service available for up to one year after they complete the Connect Up Carver build and the County signs off in its completion, for anyone that was missed or any new residential or commercial building construction that is completed in the Connect Up Carver area that desires service.

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.

Separately, the next image showing the purple lines are the fiber cables we are installing to support the Connect Up Carver project. If a purple fiber line falls in the blue coverage area, anyone on that fiber line route is part of the Connect Up Carver Initiative. For anyone on the purple fiber lines that are not within the blue areas, you are not part of the Connect Up Carver project. However, we have negotiated with Metronet to include you in our initiative called Across the Road and Feeder Line Routes, so you will also be able to connect to Metronet service as part of that effort.

Currently there remains an additional 450+ rural locations, previously awarded to LTD Broadband through the Rural Digital Opportunity Fund (ROOF), that sit outside of the County's ability to help make fiber service available. The County is continuing to work with the private sector and is also looking at other state and federal funding opportunities to try and find the $2.5-$5 million needed to finish making fiber service available throughout all rural areas.

Carver County has created an address search tool that provides information on the County's various broadband efforts for locations throughout the County.