Brainerd Dispatch reports…

Minnesota Sens. Amy Klobuchar and Tina Smith, along with Congressman Pete Stauber, announced Wednesday, Sept. 25, over $1.9 million in funding for broadband deployment in Aitkin County.

The Community Connect grant of $1,953,464 from the U.S. Department of Agriculture is intended to construct a fiber broadband network helping spur economic, business, telehealth, and educational improvements in Rice River Township and Spalding Township. …

This rural development investment will be used to construct a fiber-to-the-premises network to 235 establishments in portions of the Aitkin County townships. This includes tribal land and facilities of the Mille Lacs Band of Ojibwe. Mille Lacs Energy Cooperative in Aitkin will construct a broadband network to support service at levels up to 1 gigabyte per second for each subscriber. This broadband network will assist in economic and business development, as well as telehealth and educational improvements, the release stated.