Maple Lake Messenger reports…

On Wednesday, June 28, the State of Minnesota announced the 2023 Border-to-Border Broadband Grant recipients. Three of those projects within Wright County have been awarded funding, meaning more than 1,000 homes, farms and businesses in the county will receive improved broadband service. These are the Border-to-Border grant recipients.

Arvig (Tekstar) – Wright County Area Fiber Extension – Grant $879,747

This last-mile project will build to 256 households, farms and businesses throughout parts of rural Wright County. Thanks to a funding partnership with Wright County ($439,873) and the State of Minnesota, Arvig will be able to extend its growing fiber network to these structures with internet speeds between 100 Mbps download and 20 Mbps upload to 10 Gbps download and 1 Gbps upload, meeting and exceeding Minnesota’s 2026 state speed goal. The all fiber-to-the-premises construction will begin as soon as the grant is awarded and the environmental reviews are completed, and will be completed before December 2025, allowing these customers to receive the internet service they need. With the completion of this project, these rural Wright County residents will be able to run their own at-home businesses and farms; work from home more efficiently; continue or pursue their education online with confidence; have better access to telehealth services; access more entertainment and stay connected with their friends and family.