For several years, Anoka County and private provider Zayo have been building an ARRA-supported middle mile network. This week Fierce Telecom reports that it’s complete…

Zayo has put the final touches on the “Connect Anoka County” project, a middle mile network that will provide connectivity across unserved and underserved northwest, northeast, and southeast areas in Anoka County, Minn.

The buildout in Anoka County was funded by a $13.4 million grant from the Federal Reinvestment and Recovery Act (FRRA) Broadband Opportunity Program it was awarded in 2010. …

Chris Morley, president of Ethernet at Zayo, said in a release that “The network enables access to Ethernet service, Direct Internet Access, Private Line, Wavelengths and Dark Fiber for 145 local public facilities, and other local broadband users.”

Before the middle mile fiber network was completed, several parts of Anoka County could only get copper-based T1 or DSL services from a local telco. Since this network build is an extension of its broader national fiber network, Anoka County can get higher speed access to Zayo’s network footprint across 45 states, Washington, D.C., and seven countries.