The Patriot reports...

The Sherburne County Board has again confirmed its commitment to bring broadband to all areas of the county.

Tuesday, the board approved individual letters of support and a commitment of $500 each to assist Frontier Communications, Midcontinent Communications (Midco), Arvig and Windstream in their pursuits of Broadband Equity, Access, and Deployment program (BEAD) grant dollars for eligible projects located within Sherburne County.

BEAD Program provides $42.45 billion to expand high-speed Internet access by funding planning, infrastructure deployment and adoption programs.

Frontier, Midco, Arvig, and Windstream all plan to submit individual BEAD grant applications for grant-eligible locations in Sherburne County. The application process awards points for both local support and for financial commitment.

Frontier’s project would connect 184 eligible locations in Clear Lake, Haven, and Palmer Townships.

Midco’s projects would connect eligible locations that include the cities of Baldwin and Elk River plus Big Lake, Blue Hill, Clear Lake, Haven, Livonia, Palmer, and Santiago townships. If each of the project areas were awarded funds, over 800 locations would be connected.

Arvig’s project would connect 51 eligible locations in Big Lake Township.

Windstream’s project would connect 294 eligible locations in Big Lake and Zimmerman.