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• BISMARCK, N.D. (AP) -- Regional communication services provider Midcontinent Communications is extending its fiber-optic network into northwestern North Dakota's booming oil patch.
• Officials for North Dakota and the Sioux Falls, S.D.-based company on Monday unveiled the $3 million plan to extend the multi-state Northern Plains Network from Minot to Williston. The project will be privately funded, said company president and CEO Pat McAdaragh.
• "The Bakken Extension means western North Dakota will have access to greatly expanded data capacity, faster speeds and world-class telecommunications services," McAdaragh said.
• Gov. Jack Dalrymple and state Commerce Commissioner Alan Anderson said

the project will help meet the digital needs of growing communities in western North Dakota, home to the oil-rich Bakken Formation that is drawing people and companies from around the country.
• "Rapid growth around the Bakken Formation is creating demand on all manner of infrastructure from housing and water to roads and technology," Anderson said. "Modern telecommunications facilities and connections are vital to development in the area."
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