Wisconsin Independent Network, LLC - WIN Announces Major Fiber Network Expansion

Eau Claire, WI - April 15, 2005 - Wisconsin Independent Network™, LLC, (WIN™) announced today a major expansion of its fiber optic transport network.

WIN has acquired 505 miles of fiber network between Minneapolis and Chicago, and another 194 miles from Madison to Green Bay. These routes will form a portion of the core of WIN's network, enable WIN to complete key SONET rings for redundancy and diversity purposes, and provide WIN access into new markets, including Madison, Milwaukee, Fond du Lac and Chicago. WIN will also utilize this fiber to establish a second Point of Presence (POP) in Minneapolis.

"We have executed agreements to acquire seven hundred miles of dark fiber in two routes from Minneapolis to Chicago and from Madison to Green Bay," said Executive Director Scott Hoffmann. "We are currently in the process of lighting this fiber and integrating it into our existing network."

Of immediate benefit is the completion of a SONET fiber ring touching ten POPs across central to eastern Wisconsin, some in rural areas of central Wisconsin, some touching larger communities of Green Bay, Appleton, Oshkosh, Fond du Lac and Madison. This ring is now fully complete and operational. "We have served the Green Bay and Appleton markets for a couple years now," said Scott Hoffmann, WIN Executive Director. "We have eyed this network growth for quite a while. It provides full SONET ring redundancy through these markets in the Fox Valley of Wisconsin. It also grows our network into the major cities in southeastern Wisconsin, and most importantly, Chicago, Illinois. Our diverse fiber ring connectivity into our Chicago point of presence at the Equinix collocation facility will be a key location on our network. We have been working six years to grow our business and achieve this type of connectivity into Chicago and Equinix from nearly forty locations across Wisconsin. At Equinix, we are simply a cross-connect away from the majority of carriers operating in the US and across the world," said Hoffmann.

Since its initial network of ten POPs in 1999, the WIN network has expanded to thirty-four POPs, with additional expansion planned for 2005. See WIN's network map for POP locations throughout Wisconsin and eastern Minnesota.

Click here for a printer-friendly version of this page