Bluff Country News reports…

Mediacom Communications announced it has built more than seven miles of fiber optic cable connecting the homes and businesses of Fountain to its Fillmore County broadband network.

By mid-December, Mediacom will activate the new portion of its network to deliver advanced telecommunication services, including robust one-gigabit-per-second internet speeds that are up to 40 times faster than the minimum broadband definition set by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC).

The project was made possible by a Border to Border Broadband Development Grant provided by the Minnesota Department of Employment and Economic Development (DEED).

Through this public/private partnership, DEED allocated funds to pay for up to 48-percent of the $400,000 network construction cost. Mediacom’s capital investment covered the remaining 52-percent of the project to create Fountain’s first facilities-based broadband network and makes gigabit internet speeds available to residents and businesses throughout the community.

Mediacom has been a longtime service provider in the Fillmore County communities of Canton, Chatfield, Lanesboro, Mabel, Peterson, Preston, Rushford and Spring Valley. With the addition of Fountain, 183 mid-sized and smaller communities throughout Minnesota are now connected to Mediacom’s fiber-rich broadband network.