High-speed broadband internet access is coming to Nelson in 2023, while residents and businesses in and north of Carlos will have to wait.
In December, the Minnesota Department of Employment and Economic Development announced that Gardonville Cooperative Telephone Association of Brandon would receive a grant of just over $1.2 million to bring fiber to 300 homes and businesses in and around Nelson.
Of these 300 locations, 59 include home-based businesses or telecommuters. Gardonville has promised to provide 1G per second upload and 1G per second download to all customers, which exceeds Minnesota’s speed goal for 2026.
The grant is half the estimated total project cost of just over $2.4 million.
Some details on the original application…
Gardonville originally sought grants to install broadband for three neighborhoods in 2023, including Carlos and the Buckskin area to the north and west of Carlos. However, Arvig and Charter each challenged portions of Gardonville’s plans, saying that they planned to provide high-speed broadband to those areas within 18 months.
Gardonville CEO Dave Wolf said Gardonville has a good relationship with Arvig and that they were able to reach an agreement that involved Gardonville redrawing its plans to exclude a small area that is in Arvig’s sights. However, he has not been able to reach an agreement with Charter. Regardless, internet providers can apply for another round of grant funding by March, and Wolf said Gardonville plans to apply again for the Carlos and Buckskin areas.
Blandin on Broadband 