Minnesota Fiber Project Displays Advantages of Broadband By Design

East Central Energy (ECE)’s current fiber construction project is a showcase for how including electronic design into project planning from the beginning can create significant efficiencies. A description of the Minnesota project is NRTC’s contribution to the 2024 Broadband Special insert in the August issue of RE Magazine.

ECE began its fiber project in 2022 about the time that NRTC acquired Axin Global, a company that specializes in design techniques for communications networks. With design tools, ECE was able to map out when and where to construct the network to maximize cost savings in labor, construction materials and other factors.

“NRTC had all the RUS codes and a lot of that backbone data,” says ECE VP/Chief Financial Officer Lisa Prachar in the article. “Getting all the maps uploaded into our GIS system at the end to make sure that we can have the correct mapping really helped tie this together for us.”

The article also discusses other issues ECE is facing in the project, such as worker safety, project funding and broadband networks for utility purposes.

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