OREANDA-NEWS. Windstream (NASDAQ:WIN), a leading provider of advanced network communications, today announced a major expansion of its advanced metro fiber network in Minneapolis. Windstream’s expansion will provide the area’s growing business community with world-class fiber and fixed-wireless infrastructure that connects even more local data centers and commercial buildings with Windstream’s high-speed, highly available nationwide fiber network.

“The investment that Windstream is making in the greater Minneapolis area is a direct reflection of how important the area’s business community is to our company,” said Chris Nein, regional president for Windstream. “This ambitious project will result in a new level of connectivity and network stability for all businesses in Minneapolis and will allow us to offer our customers an expanded product suite and higher levels of service. We have already started to connect some of our customers directly to the Windstream metro-Minneapolis network and are ready to grow this rapidly.”

Windstream’s expansion of its local metro fiber network and the addition of fixed wireless service will connect the company’s national fiber network to major data center complexes and commercial buildings in the Minneapolis area. This expansion will connect companies directly to other major and mid-size markets across the country, and it also will enable business customers to utilize the enterprise-class data, voice, network and cloud services that Windstream customers in other major markets use as the foundation of their technology strategy.

One company that will benefit directly from Windstream expansion is Berger Transfer & Storage, which is headquartered in St. Paul and has 17 service locations located across the country. Berger has been one of the most trusted names in transportation and storage logistics for more than 100 years, and today it has a fleet of more than 600 vehicles and moves more than 24,000 customers each year.

“Having a reliable and cost-effective IT network is critical to serving our customers, and we applaud Windstream for investing in and expanding its fiber network in the Twin Cities,” said Kevin Johnson, CIO of Berger Transfer & Storage. “The improvements will give the network better reliability and reach, and will allow Windstream to offer additional services such as fixed wireless that will benefit all businesses in our area."
 
The Windstream expansion increases both the footprint of the company’s network and the services that are available to local customers – including fixed wireless service, unified communications, managed services, network security, business continuity, network solutions and cloud services, all of which are provided with the support of a truly local team.

Windstream is expanding local metro fiber networks across the country as part of an initiative that will support customers in the banking, financial services, legal services, education, healthcare, government, hospitality and retail industries, among others. In addition to Minneapolis, Windstream is expanding its metro fiber networks in a number of cities including Charlotte, Nashville, Richmond, Atlanta, Chicago, Philadelphia and Cleveland.