MP Telecom (Duluth, MN), the telecommunications subsidiary of Minnesota Power, completed a fiber-optic network interconnecting the northern Minnesota communities of Grand Rapids, Hibbing, Virginia, Eveleth, Duluth, and Brainerd. The backbone network is a Synchronous Optical Network (SONET) ring architecture equipped for 2.5-Gbit/sec capacity over two fiber strands; it can be upgraded for 20-Gbit/sec capacity. MP Telecom installed 48 strands of fiber on the route, which it plans to expand in 1999 to accommodate projected growth in the digital economy.