Here’s an update on the Border to Border grant in Fillmore County from Bluff Country Reader…

In less than 24 months, approximately 475 more homes, businesses and a government building will be included in Acentek’s high-speed internet system. It was announced last month that the Houston-based company received a $1.78 million grant to add 159 miles of fiber optics to residents living in the village of Whalan and Carrolton and Holt townships. The grant is through the Department of Employment and Economic Development (DEED).

The $1.78 million grant for Acentek is part of a new round of grants, totaling approximately $34 million, that will expand high-speed internet access to 16,627 households, 2,240 businesses and 71 community institutions in greater Minnesota.

“With this grant, which will pay for 39 percent of the project, we will be able to offer better services to many of our rural costumers,” said Darren Moser, Acentek’s chief financial officer (CFO).

The total cost to install nearly 160 miles of fiber optics to Fillmore County residents is $4.68 million. The local match for the project is $2.9 million. Moser noted Acentek was awarded $75,000 from Fillmore County.

Moser noted that with the topography of Fillmore County, the cost to dig 159 miles of fiber optics through hills, valleys, cliff, limestone formations and wooded land is quite a challenge.

It’s interesting to hear about the struggle to get through the terrain in Fillmore County. Not all rural is the same. I remember visiting Northeast Minnesota to see fiber installs there – lots of drilling through rock!