According to the Mankato Free Press…

Federal Communications Commission Chairman Ajit Pai visited Madelia Wednesday to talk with rural broadband providers about how to get high-speed internet to more Minnesotans.

He visited with…

Along with [Brent] Christensen [of MN Telecom Alliance], representatives from 702 Communications of Moorhead, Bevcomm of Blue Earth, CenturyLink of St. Paul, KM Telecom of Kasson, Minnesota Valley Telephone/Winthrop Telephone of Franklin, Minnesota Office of Broadband Development and New Ulm Telecom attended the discussion, which was closed to the media.

Sounds like they discussed the future of FCC funding, at least at a high level…

Pai said part of how the FCC can alleviate the cost of the burden is to continue current work on policies that ensure the FCC’s millions in federal subsidies are administered “wisely” to the places that would benefit most and go the farthest, like rural areas.

Sometimes USDA Rural Development grants also are used to support broadband expansion, such as a project completed by RS Fiber last fall in Sibley County. Dan Pacerina, CEO of Hiawatha Broadband Communications, said it cost about $1,000 per home to install the high-speed connections.