The Pipestone County Star reports on Minnesota Broadband grant awarded in their area…

Woodstock Communications has been awarded a $363,851 Border-to-Border Broadband Grant from the state of Minnesota to pay for a portion of the cost to bring high speed internet service to unserved parts of Pipestone County with a hybrid fiber-wireless system. The company plans to install 15-to-20 miles of fiber optic cable, build two towers near Ihlen and in the northern part of the county, and lease space on two existing towers near Trosky and north of Pipestone to provide access to the western part of the county. Terry Nelson, general manager of Woodstock Communications, said the company plans to begin engineering work, staking, and the permitting process shortly after the first of the year. He anticipates the installation of fiber to begin before June 1 with service provided in August from the two towers the company plans to lease space on and in late fall 2018 from the two new towers it plans to build. When complete, the system is expected to serve 135 unserved households, 540 unserved businesses and one unserved community anchor institution, the Altona Township Hall. It’s expected to provide internet speeds of 25 megabits per second (Mbps) for downloading and 3 Mbps uploading. In some areas, higher speeds of 75 Mbps downloading and 25 Mbps uploading will be available.