Telecom companies band together in SD and MN

A Sioux Falls (SD)-based company has linked telecommunications companies throughout southern Minnesota in creating a fiber optic network that offers better Internet connectivity. That group is comprised of six independent telephone companies in southern Minnesota, including AcenTek of Houston and KM Telecom of Kasson, one in northern Iowa and SDN Communications of Sioux Falls. The group connected the systems of the six Minnesota members and added some new connections to create a broadband network to serve the southern quarter of Minnesota. "The network positions the eight participating companies, as well as rural communities within the service territory, to compete for new business opportunities on a local, regional, and national scale," according to a press release from SDN, which serves as the managing partner for of group. Mark Shlanta, SDN's CEO, says the project is SDN's biggest expansion in more than a decade in terms of territory, fiber miles and business opportunities. SDN specializes in providing connectivity and managed telecom services to businesses and institutions.