Midco and Switch announced a five-year agreement to deploy more than 500 individual 400G circuits between Ellendale, North Dakota and Chicago, Illinois. The deployment provides 200 Tbps of total transport capacity across two geographically diverse routes designed for full redundancy. The companies said the infrastructure will support AI-related data center and hyperscale connectivity requirements tied to a major deployment in Ellendale.
The project centers on high-capacity long-haul optical transport using equipment from Nokia. Midco said the deployment combines its owned fiber assets with partner infrastructure to meet delivery timelines despite ongoing supply-chain constraints for optical networking gear. The network links North Dakota to major Midwest interconnection hubs including Chicago, Minneapolis, Omaha, and Denver, reflecting continued demand for regional AI infrastructure outside traditional coastal data center markets.
The scale of the deployment stands out. More than 500 dedicated 400G wavelengths on a single multistate build represents a substantial increase in backbone capacity tied directly to AI cluster expansion. At 200 Tbps aggregate capacity, the deployment aligns with the growing requirement for high-density east-west traffic movement between hyperscale compute clusters, cloud on-ramps, and major carrier exchange points. While the companies did not disclose the end customer, Switch indicated the network supported a “multi-billion-dollar contract” associated with the Ellendale deployment.
| Project Element | Details |
|---|---|
| Circuit Count | 500+ individual 400G circuits |
| Aggregate Capacity | 200 Tbps |
| Primary Route | Ellendale, North Dakota to Chicago, Illinois |
| Redundancy | Two geographically diverse paths with full redundancy |
| Optical Vendor | Nokia optical transport platform |
| Contract Duration | Five years |
| Target Workloads | AI infrastructure, hyperscale, cloud, enterprise data centers |