Beware the Ides of March – March 15. That’s the deadline for Round Two of the ARRA BTOP/BIP funding applications. It’s an interesting time – and that’s why there are so many recent posts on the topic.

The St Paul/Ramsey project is slightly different than the others we’ve mentioned today (Blandin, Lake County) in that they didn’t apply for Round One. St. Paul/Ramsey County plan to work with the Minnesota Fiber Exchange on a public-private partnership that would provide fiber links to government facilities and fiber access to local businesses.

According to the Minnesota Fiber Exchange web site…

Our goal is to provide carrier neutral-dark fiber-open access networks to carriers and ISPs to allow them to expand their business base in the community. Especially in an area such as St. Paul and Ramsey County where currently there is a dearth of fiber assets for lease; we believe that this will be an exciting way for providers to increase customer reach. Our goal is to provide a competitively priced dark fiber service that will allow ISPs to grow business.

The are currently looking for potential ISP/partners. If you’re interested you can find out more in the MFE web site.