The West Central Tribune reports…

The Willmar City Council on Dec. 15 heard an update on the Willmar Connect initiative from City Operations Director Kyle Box, who said awarding of the bid for the project should be ready for consideration in January.

Willmar City Council is expected to consider awarding the bid for the Willmar Connect initiative at its first meeting in January 2026, according to Willmar City Operations Director Kyle Box.

Box provided an update on the Willmar Connect initiative at the Dec. 15 meeting of the City Council.

The Willmar Connect initiative is the city’s plan to construct a citywide, city-owned, open-access fiber broadband network. The city will own the infrastructure and Hometown Fiber will operate and manage the network on which multiple internet service providers can operate.

The various ISPs operating on the system will pay fees to the city, which will be used to service the debt and interest on approximately $24.5 million in bonds issued to pay for its construction.