Thanks to Becky LaPlant for sending me a heads up from the local Timberjay newspaper on the Range’s FiberNet project.

I’ve blogged about FiberNet before, it’s the group of nearly a dozen communities in NE Minnesota that are working together to build a fiber network.

Well apparently the planning is going well. Last summer their cost estimates were $49 million to set up the network – the latest estimate is $22 million. Not bad! The timing is good because the planning committee needs to go to the communities to ask them to start to contribute financially to the project. Up until now the funding has come from the IRR and Blandin Foundation.

FiberNet plans to talk to the communities in February and is hoping to get $100,000 to keep the project on track.

I nearly forgot my favorite part of the story. Winona-based Hiawatha Broadband Communications (HBC) is going to build the network. They were going to operate it too – but they decided that it would be better for homegrown NE Minnesota resources to operate the network. I love that! It keeps the ownership and immediate economic incentives very local. (Reminded me of Geoff Daily’s recent article on building fiber infrastructure to kick start the economy. His point being that rather than build roads as a New Deal WPA program – why not think 21st century and build fiber.)