The Country Messenger reports…

After years of planning, grant applications and phased construction, Scandia’s long-awaited high-speed internet expansion is entering its final stretch.

Midco, the internet provider in the expansion, has begun construction this month and is projected to complete the project by the end of July. Once complete, the expansion will bring fiber optic internet access to roughly 95% of households in the City of Scandia.

Seeing the project nearing completion is encouraging to Scandia’s Internet Action Committee, which has been working for years to improve internet access for Scandia residents. According to the committee’s chair, Bob Wilmers, the city first partnered with Midco in 2019 when approximately half of the city’s households had access to reliable internet coverage. Since that time, Scandia and Midco have worked together to find funding through local investments and outside grants, including the Minnesota Border to Border Broadband Grant Program.

“In the last seven years, Midco and the city have applied for multiple grants from the State of Minnesota, Washington County, and the Federal Government to provide financial assistance for the expansion of high-speed Internet service in the rest of Scandia,” Wilmers said. “When this project is completed, we’ll have reached about 95% of the households in Scandia for high-speed Internet, doubling the number we started with in 2019.”

The total cost of the expansion is nearly $7 million, according to Wilmers, with the city investing approximately $1 million, which makes up roughly 15% of the overall cost. The remaining funding has been provided through grants and Midco.