The Greater Minnesota Broadband Collaborative Project received ARRA funding from the NTIA in 2010, when we reported…

This approximately $16.8 million award, with more than $7.2 million in matching contributions, will allow Enventis Telecom to offer affordable middle-mile broadband service in Minnesota. The project plans to directly connect 70 community institutions to broadband. As many as 350,400 people stand to benefit as do 28,000 businesses. Enventis estimates that the project will create more than 250 jobs.

The project broke ground in July 2011 and now the Brainerd Dispatch reports the network is being currently being deployed in their area…

The new fiber optic lines connect Minneapolis and St. Paul to Duluth and Superior, Wis. as well as linking Brainerd to Fargo N.D. and Moorhead. The three-year project began in July 2011. Construction is slated to be completed this fall with activation in the first quarter of 2013. The fiber optic network is going through Staples and Wadena and Detroit Lakes as it connects Brainerd to Moorhead.

Partners in the project include the Mayo Clinic, University of Minnesota Office of Information Technology and the Minnesota Office of Enterprise Technology, which are expected to directly benefit from the network. …

It is designed to connect major institutions like health care, education, libraries, and government — such as courts and public safety — throughout the state. …

“We are not looking at directly supporting the residential community.”