The Worthington Globe reports…

People living in rural Nobles County are about to get an assist through Lismore Cooperative Telephone Company’s massive fiber broadband project, which recently received a USDA ReConnect grant of $13.68 million, paired with a loan of $5.72 million.

The project could provide high-speed broadband to 3,839 people, 127 businesses, 679 farms and one educational facility, said Nobles County Commissioner Gene Metz, who is also involved with the Lismore Cooperative Telephone Company.

The project began about three years ago when the company put in a fiber ring and fed the fiber signals to about a dozen different towers, which in turn pushed out a wireless signal.

More details…

The total estimated cost of the project will be $27.37 million, meaning local funds need to cover the remaining $7.96 million. The Nobles County Board of Commissioners initially committed $2 million in wind production tax money to the project, but the co-op didn’t get the grant the first time it applied. The county re-committed its $2 million, with an additional $1 million from its reserves and another $250,000 each year for four years.