According to Le Center Leader…

A new round of state grants could extend broadband to thousands of businesses and households throughout areas of rural Minnesota, including a portion of Le Sueur County, that now are without reliable internet access…

In Le Sueur County, Heidelberg residents will see an increase in broadband speed by 250 percent. Starting this June, Eckles Telephone Company in New Prague will serve 51 unserved households, seven unserved businesses, 40 underserved households, and four underserved businesses in the rural Heidelberg area.

John Sonnek, Director of Operations at BEVCOMM, Eckles’ parent company, said that once residents and business owners have their copper internet cables switched to fiber, they will have a choice of four different speeds, ranging from 30 megabytes to 1 gigabyte.

“There shouldn’t be any interruption to the broadband at all (during construction), and the only down time will be when they physically come to your house to change over from copper to fiber,” Sonnek said.

The grant covers 40 percent of the project, a total of $188,000. BEVCOMM will pay for the remaining $182,000.

Sonnek added that “the project needs to be in place by June 2018.”