Category Archives: MN Broadband Fund Awards

Comcast extends fiber to Corcoran, Cologne, Nowthen and parts of Grant, Hugo, Rogers, and Stillwater Township (Washington & Henne[in Counties)

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Bring Me the News reports…

Comcast has announced it’s expanding its internet service to seven more Minnesota cities.

The communications giant says its “fiber-rich network” will by the end of 2024 expand to the west of the Twin Cities, namely Corcoran, Cologne, Nowthen and parts of Grant, Hugo, Rogers, and Stillwater Township.

It will provide residents of those areas another option for their internet service, with Comcast saying the expansion is being part funded by the State of Minnesota’s Border-to-Border Broadband program, which pays up to 50% of development costs for qualifying projects.

The company says the new expansion will service near 14,000 additional homes.

Minnesota Border to Border Broadband round 9 grant applicants

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On December 12, 2023, grant applications were due to the Office of Broadband Development. Providers have until January 11, 2024 to challenge the applications.

I am preparing to work on the MN Broadband County Profiles and part of that means figuring out which counties are in the hopper for possibly getting grants. I thought I’d share that info as part of the process:

Applicant NameProject NameCounty

2023 Broadband Grant Applications (Round 9)
Ace Telephone Association Rural Canton Fillmore
Albany Mutual Telephone Association Stearns Phase 2 Stearns
Arvig Hennepin County Hennepin
Arvig Mower County Mower
Arvig Naytahwaush Area Mahnomen
Arvig Stearns County Stearns
Benton Cooperative Telephone Company Buckman TS Morrison
Benton Cooperative Telephone Company Estes Brook Mille Lacs
Bevcomm Inc Bevcomm LeSueur County Fiber Le Sueur
Bevcomm Inc Bevcomm Waseca County Fiber Waseca
Comcast Anoka County Anoka
Comcast Carver County Carver
Comcast Carver County 2 Carver
Comcast Carver County 3 Carver
Comcast Dakota County Dakota
Comcast Scott County Scott County
Comcast Washington County Washington
Comcast Washington County 2 Washington
Comcast Washington County 3 Washington
Consolidated Telephone Company Clinton Twp St Louis
East Central Energy Mille Lacs South Mille Lacs
East Central Energy Pine Central Pine
East Central Energy Pine North Pine
Easton Telephone Company Rural Minnesota Lake Fiber Faribault
Federated Rural Electric Association Federated Martin County Martin
Federated Telephone Cooperative Western Kandiyohi FTTP Kandiyohi
Garden Valley Telephone Company Rural East Grand Forks Polk
Gardonville Cooperative Telephone Douglas County Douglas
Hanson Communications Chippewa County West Chippewa
Hanson Communications Comfrey Brown Cottonwood
Hiawatha Broadband Communications, Inc Dakota Goodhue Wabasha Dakota
ITC Lyon Northwest Lyon
ITC Yellow Medicine Central Yellow Medicine
JTN Communications JTN Dakota
Kasson & Mantorville Telephone Company Byron Rural North Olmsted
Mediacom LLC Chub Lake Dakota
Mediacom LLC Esqugama Lake St Louis
Mediacom LLC Hibbing Esko St Louis
Mediacom LLC Iron Junction St Louis
Mediacom LLC Lakewood St Louis
Mediacom LLC Oak Hill Spring Valley Fillmore
Mediacom LLC Ostrander Fillmore
Meeker Cooperative Light & Power Association Fahlun Township Kandiyohi
Meeker Cooperative Light & Power Association Gennesse Township Kandiyohi
Meeker Cooperative Light & Power Association Kandiyohi Township Kandiyohi
Meeker Cooperative Light & Power Association Lake Lillian Kandiyohi
Meeker Cooperative Light & Power Association Southside Township Wright
Midco North Central Anoka
Midco Wright Sherburne Wright Sherburne
Mille Lacs Energy Cooperative Cedar Lake Aitkin
Mille Lacs Energy Cooperative MLEC NW Aitkin Aitkin
NorthfieldWiFi NorthfieldWifi Dakota Rice
Nuvera Communications, Inc White Rock Goodhue
Red River Communications Red River Rural Comstock Rural Sabin Clay
Red River Communications Rural Hawley Clay
Runestone Telecom Association Crow Lake Twp Stearns
Savage Communications Inc East Central MN Pine
Savage Communications Inc Industrial Township Broadband St Louis
Spectrum Mid-America, LLC Blue Earth Blue Earth
Spectrum Mid-America, LLC Dakota County Dakota
Spectrum Mid-America, LLC Mower Co Mower
Spectrum Mid-America, LLC Sherburne Co Sherburne
Spectrum Mid-America, LLC Spectrum-Wright Co Wright
Spring Grove Communications Spring Grove Comm Spring Valley N Chester Fillmore
Treehouse Broadband, LLC Treehouse – Echo Trail St Louis
Upsala Cooperative Telephone Association dba Sytek Sytek – Swanville North Moose Lake Carlton
Wikstrom Telephone Company, Incorporated Wiktel NW MN Broadband RD9 Kittson
Woodstock Telephone Company Woodstock Comm – Hatfield FTTH Pipestone
Zito West Holding LLC Zito West Holding – Two Harbors Unreached Drops Lake

2023 Round 9 Border-to-Border and Low-Density Broadband Development Grant Program Applications Received – Challenge Process Begins

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From the Office of Broadband Development…

Sixty-nine (69) applications for the 2023 Round 9 Border-to-Border and Low-Density Broadband Development grant program were received by the December 7th deadline. The Office of Broadband Development has initiated the challenge process required by Minnesota law (Minn. Stat. 116J.395 subd. 5a) concurrent with its review of the applications. A list of the applications filed and instructions on how to file a challenge, if necessary, are available on our website and under the “2023 Application Process” tab.  A downloadable GIS layer of the 2023 Round 9 Grant application areas will be available on our interactive broadband map on or around Tuesday, December 12, 2023. Any provider wishing to challenge an application must complete the 2023 Challenge Form and submit via email to deed.broadband@state.mn.us by 4:00 p.m. Thursday, January 11, 2024.

If you have any questions, please contact our office at 651-259-7610 or via email at deed.broadband@state.mn.us

Treehouse is seeking $1.8M to build better broadband in Ely MN (St Louis County)

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The Ely Echo reports…

Residents along the North Arm Rd, Echo Trail, Grant McMahan Boulevard and Winton Road areas may be getting a new internet service option.

Treehouse Broadband is looking to the future and applying for a grant of $1.8 million to bring multi-gigabit internet to homes on the outskirts of Ely.

“The grant would help immensely to make this project a reality because it takes a big principal investment to get this going,” said Isaac Olson, owner of Treehouse Broadband.

MN DEED has 50 million dollars available of matching grant money in their current broadband grant round, and the Ely area has not seen DEED broadband grant money through the first eight rounds over previous years.

The area east of Ely Treehouse wants to cover with help from the grant still relies on phone lines that haven’t been upgraded in 30 years since they were installed.

Underground fiber installation can often be preferable to overhead for reliability reasons.

“We’ve seen multi-week outages on overhead phone lines due to storm damage, which wouldn’t be an issue if the lines were underground,” Olson said.

If their $1.8 million project application is successful, Treehouse plans to install multi-gigabit fiber internet service to 200+ homes and businesses over the next two years.

Sherburne County set to expand broadband in Big Lake Township with Midco

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The Sherburne Patriot reports…

The Sherburne County Board last week gave its commitment to support a new broadband project.

The company Midco is planning a project that would serve 240 addresses in Big Lake Twp. Midco is applying to the Dept. of Employment and Economic Development (DEED) for a Border to Border grant to fund the project and is asking the county to be a financial partner in the project.

Assistant Administrator Dan Weber told the board that Midco is not seeking new funding from the county, but would like to re-allocate ARPA money that was not used on their last project.

“They had an Orrock project that was approved a few years ago that came in about $35,000 under budget,” said Weber.

Midco wants to use that savings for the Big Lake project.

“They would like to re-allocate $35,000 to that project. And that would only be if DEED awards the Border to Border grant,” he said. “So at his time they are only looking for a commitment letter that we would be willing to partner in that project if necessary.”

The board gave its approval. They also approved an additional $22,473.60 in ARPA spending to cover administration and ARPA audit costs.

Kandiyohi County hears from three possible broadband partners to expand coverage

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West Central Tribune reports…

More than 1,800 more homes and businesses could obtain access to high-speed broadband internet if three new expansion projects can collect the funding needed to make the project possible.

Mark Boeschen, the chair of the Kandiyohi County and City of Willmar Economic Development Commission Broadband Committee, attended the Nov. 21 meeting of the Kandiyohi County Board . Boeschen requested the board’s support to apply for state Border to Border broadband grant funding, as well as approval to dip into the over $6 million the county has set aside in American Rescue Plan Act funding to help pay for broadband projects.

“We are not asking for any additional funds, just to use the funds available,” Boeschen said.
The first project would cover areas in Lake Andrew, Colfax, Norway Lake, St. Johns and Dovre townships, with approximately 1,292 passes, or properties close enough to connect to the main fiber line. The project would see all of Lake Andrew, Colfax and St. Johns covered.

The estimated cost for the entire project is $16,412,703. The EDC committee is applying for a state grant for 50 percent of the cost, while service provider Federated Telephone Cooperative will contribute 25 percent of the cost. The townships as a whole will put in 10 percent while the county’s American Rescue Plan Act allocation will cover the remaining 15 percent.

The second project would complete broadband coverage of Gennessee, Fahlun and Kandiyohi townships, minus the areas already considered served by the state definition, which is access to broadband speeds of 100 megabits per second download and 20 Mbps upload.

The project would have 494 passes and cost around $4,241,573. The EDC is applying again for 50 percent of the cost from the state program. Vibrant, the service provider, will again provide 25 percent of the cost. However, the county’s American Rescue Plan Act funds will pay for 20 percent of the project, as the townships cover the remaining 5 percent.

The third project discussed at the County Board meeting would complete broadband access to Lake Lillian Township with 87 passes. It would cost around $1,456,074. The state grant ask would be for 75 percent of the cost, due to the low population of the area.

“It meets the requirement of a low-density project, so we can ask for additional funding from the state,” Boeschen said.

Vibrant would put in 13 percent, the county 10 percent with the township paying for the final 2 percent of the cost.

The application deadline for the state grant program is Dec. 7, so the EDC committee is working hard to get all the needed paperwork, including the letters of support from the County Board, completed and in ready to send off.

MN Broadband Line Extension awardees announced: more than $6 million invested

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The Office of Broadband Development reports…

The Office of Broadband Development announced the first round of Line Extension Connection Program awards on a rolling basis beginning Oct. 6, 2023 and ending November 9, 2023. The first round of the program awarded $4,395,257.45 to expand wired broadband delivering at least 100 Mbps download and 100 Mbps upload to 843 locations across 32 counties. Of these locations, 779 are residences and 64 are businesses. Internet providers carrying out the projects matched $2,225,747.14 for a total investment of $6,621,004.59.

Round 1 Line Extension Awards by Internet Provider

Provider Locations Grant Amount
Arvig – East Ottertail Tel 26 $172,220.48
Arvig – Loretel Systems, Inc. 7 $65,841.18
Arvig – Osakis Telephone Co. 9 $24,756.40
Arvig – Redwood County Tel 1 $20,222.99
Arvig – Tekstar 74 $542,433.10
Arvig – Twin Valley Ulen Tel 1 $17,087.56
Bevcomm 11 $85,734.78
Consolidated Tel Co. (CTC) 282 $1,005,949.81
Farmers Mutual Telephone Co. 1 $4,800.00
Federated REA Coop. 29 $62,263.25
Federated Telephone Coop. 15 $138,000.00
Hiawatha Broadband Comm. (HBC) 205 $1,323,626.82
Johnson Telephone 1 $24,010.44
Mediacom 37 $190,501.15
Midco Midcontinent Comm. 21 $166,800.00
Otter Tail Telecom 4 $38,361.70
Paul Bunyan Telephone Co. 10 $86,286.00
Savage Communications Inc (SCI) 104 $354,445.72
Sytek Communications 4 $57,348.00
Wikstrom Tel Co. (Wiktel) 1 $14,568.07
20 Providers 843 $4,395,257.45

Round 1 Line Extension Awards by County

View the map of Round 1 Locations

County Locations
Aitkin 65
Anoka 3
Becker 34
Big Stone 1
Carlton 11
Cass 6
Clay 21
Crow Wing 183
Dakota 67
Douglas 9
Goodhue 6
Hubbard 28
Itasca 7
Jackson 27
Kandiyohi 12
Kittson 1
Lac qui Parle 1
Le Sueur 3
Mahnomen 12
Martin 2
Morrison 4
Otter Tail 21
Pine 36
Redwood 1
Rice 3
Scott 5
St. Louis 67
Swift 2
Todd 55
Wabasha 97
Washington 18
Winona 35
32 Counties 843

Arvig awarded almost $1 million from MN Line Extension program

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Arvig reports…

The Minnesota Office of Broadband Development (OBD) has awarded Arvig grant funding to extend existing fiber infrastructure to more than 118 unserved locations in several lakes-area counties.

Arvig was awarded grants totaling $842,562 from OBD’s Line Extension Connection program after submitting successful lowest-cost bids to provide fiber to the locations. Arvig will invest another $217,419 to cover additional project costs.

The Line Extension Connection program, administered by the Minnesota Department of Employment and Economic Development (DEED) was created to bridge the gap in connecting homes and businesses just out of reach of existing last-mile infrastructure.

Created in 2022 with a budget of $15 million, the program invites residents and business owners to submit applications if they lack a wired connection with access to internet speeds of at least 25 Mbps download and 3 Mbps upload, which is considered unserved. Internet service providers then bid on the applications and are awarded grant funding based on the number of successful bids.

As Arvig reports, there was $15 million budgeted for Line Extension. I expect we will see a full list of awardees from State soon. It would be really nice if that list included a map. Arvig also included information for folks interested in applying for Line Extension support…

More information about how to apply for the program is available at https://mn.gov/deed/programs-services/broadband/extension.

For assistance completing the application or to request a paper form, call 651-259-7610 or email DEED.broadband@state.mn.us.

To date, the program has received more than 3,000 applications across the state of Minnesota.

Pipestone County to invest almost $300,000 in match for potential MN Broadband grant

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The Pipestone County Star reports…

Pipestone County Commissioners during their Oct. 24 meeting voted to provide $268,822 for a fiber optic internet project Woodstock Communications is planning for the rural area around Hatfield. The funds are contingent upon 75 percent of the total project cost being paid for by a grant.

Woodstock Communications already provides fiber internet access to the northeast part of the county and the cities of Edgerton, Ruthton, Holland and Woodstock. The project in the Hatfield area would provide fiber internet access from state Highway 23 down to the Hatfield area for an estimated cost of $2,150,574. Woodstock Communications General Manager Terry Nelson said an added benefit to the company would be that the project would bring it closer to Pipestone.

“For us that’s a plus,” he said. “We can eventually go in and build out some of the areas around there.”

Nelson said he plans to seek a Minnesota Border-to-Border Broadband Development Grant that could cover up to 75 percent of the cost, which would be $1,612,931. That would leave $537,644, which Nelson said is not feasible for the Ruthton-based company. He asked if the county would consider splitting that amount, which he said would make it feasible. …

The commissioners plan to take the funds from the family services fund that’s left over from when the county operated its own family services, which had $764,251.17 in it as of September.

Applications for Border-to-Border grants are due by Dec. 7 and awards are anticipated to be announced in the winter of 2024, according to the Minnesota Department of Employment and Economic Development. Nelson said that if funds are awarded for the project, construction would probably begin in 2025. Projects need to be complete by June 30, 2026.

Mediacom Communications Launches Ultra-High-Speed Broadband in Swan Lake Area (Nicollet County)

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Announcement from Mediacom…

Mediacom Communications announced the completion of a fiber-optic network expansion that delivers ultra-high-speed broadband services to the Swan Lake area of Hale Township, MN.
Residents and businesses in previously unserved Swan Lake can now select from a variety of service offerings including broadband plans with download speeds up to 2 gigabits per second as well as low-cost phone plans. Mediacom also offers Connect2Compete-Plus (C2C+) for low-income households and participates in the Affordable Connectivity Program (ACP). Both programs will help remove income barriers to broadband accessibility for eligible residents.
The Swan Lake project extends Mediacom’s fiber optic network to nearly 100 homes and businesses and marks the ninth network expansion the company has completed in partnership with the Border-to-Border Broadband Development Grant Program administered by Minnesota Employment and Economic Development (DEED).
“Mediacom is proud to partner with Minnesota DEED to bring broadband to the unserved residents of Hale Township,” said Zach Raskovich, Area Operations Director for Mediacom. “Minnesota leaders have been trailblazers on closing the digital divide for Minnesotans through their broadband grant program. The Swan Lake project serves as another successful example of this public-private partnership.”

OPPORTUNITY: DEED announces $50 million round of broadband expansion funding

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From DEED…

After two rounds of historic investments over the past year, the Minnesota Department of Employment and Economic Development (DEED) today launched its latest effort to provide high-speed broadband to Minnesota homes and businesses that need it. 

“Broadband is an absolute necessity for Minnesotans looking to connect online with employers, customers, schools, doctors, government services, social networks – frankly, anything at all,” said DEED Commissioner Matt Varilek. “Our broadband grant programs continue to deliver this economic and social imperative to more Minnesota homes and businesses every year. We’re excited to launch another round of high-impact grants today.” 

DEED has released a Request for Proposals (RFP) to award $50 million in broadband grants to providers across the state. 

As part of the new grant round, $30 million will go to DEED’s flagship Border-to-Border Broadband Program, through which broadband provider grantees are reimbursed for up to half the eligible cost of deploying broadband infrastructure, with funding for a single project capped at $10 million.  

Another $20 million will be for the newly permanent Low Population Density Program which offers grants to providers building broadband service to areas of Minnesota with particularly low population densities and high broadband deployment costs. Grants can be worth up to $10 million and cover up to 75% the total cost of a project.  

All projects must offer speeds of at least 100 megabits per second (Mbps) download and 20 Mbps upload. 

DEED has invested $167 million across two grant rounds since December 2022 to connect more than 46,000 homes and businesses to high-speed broadband. Since the inception of the Border-to-Border Broadband Program in 2014, DEED had provided nearly $297 million in grants to connect more than 103,000 homes and businesses around Minnesota to broadband internet. 

 “High-impact investments like those we’re launching today continue the acceleration of DEED’s broadband grantmaking,” said DEED Office of Broadband Development Executive Director Bree Maki. “Programs like Border-to-Border and Low Population Density help us pursue our goal of offering high-speed broadband to everyone.” 

Requirements and application materials for this competitive grant program are available on DEED’s website. A webinar for interested applicants will be held on Wednesday October 11 from 10:00 am to 11:30 am. Register here.

Minnesota is a national leader in broadband deployment. This year, US News and World Report ranked Minnesota the #1 state in the country for internet access. Even so, 290,000 Minnesotans still do not have a high-speed broadband connection (defined by Minnesota speed goals of 100 Mbps download and 20 Mbps upload) that helps them take full advantage of the modern economy.  

Today’s grants are one component of a wider broadband deployment effort. Federal officials recently awarded Minnesota $652 million in federal funding through the Broadband Equity, Access and Deployment (or BEAD) Program to expand broadband to the most unserved and underserved Minnesotans. Additionally, DEED’s Office of Broadband Development is finalizing the state’s Digital Opportunity Plan, designed to reduce gaps in broadband access, digital technology ownership and digital skills, using an upcoming grant from the federal government. Funding for both programs is due to arrive in Minnesota in the years ahead.  

In addition to the $50 million open for grants today, DEED will launch another $50 million grant round in 2024 to fund even more broadband projects.

Comcast to bring better broadband to Corcoran with Border to Border funding (Hennepin County)

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Hometown News Sources reports…

Comcast recently celebrated a groundbreaking ceremony around its expansion to more than 490 homes in the rural areas of Corcoran. Comcast will bring the entire suite of Xfinity and Comcast Business services to Corcoran in 2024.

Corcoran residents will also be able to take advantage of the company’s Internet Essentials program that provides low-cost, high-speed broadband for income-constrained households. Since its inception in 2011, the program has connected more than 410,000 Minnesota residents. It also participates in the Affordable Connectivity Program, which provides qualifying households with a $30 monthly credit toward internet and mobile services.

To help Comcast further expand into Corcoran, the company worked in partnership with Hennepin County and the city of Corcoran to receive funding support from the State of Minnesota’s Border to Border Broadband program that included $1.2 million.

This is just the latest step in Comcast’s Midwest Region’s expansion plans, which recently has brought a whole range of possibilities to Wayzata, and soon into Cologne. And with additional funding support from the State of Minnesota’s Border to Border Broadband program, Comcast will expand further into Rogers, Washington County (such as Stillwater Township) and Nowthen.

Winona reminds folks of the Line Extension Program for last mile broadband help

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Winona Post reports…

The Minnesota Office of Broadband Development under the Department of Employment and Economic Development is administering the Line Extension Program: mn.gov/deed/programs-services/broadband/extension. A household or business can apply, at no cost, to the Line Extension Connection program if it does not have wireline internet service of at least 25 Mbps download and 3 Mbps upload. Grant funding is available to encourage internet providers to extend coverage to eligible applicants.

Residents and businesses who believe they are unserved can learn more and apply online at mn.gov/deed/programs-services/broadband/extension or by calling 651-259-7610 or emailing DEED.broadband@state.mn.us. To date, nearly 2,500 homes and businesses have registered for the program across the state.

This seemed like a good time to remind folks that the Line Extension has an open application process but the applications are complied every six months. Here is the timing according to the Office of Broadband Development website…

How quickly will line extensions be installed under this program?

This program has a number of steps built into the process. An approximate timeline would be as follows:

  • Address is registered in portal (November 2022)

  • Every six months OBD sends list of addresses to broadband providers in Minnesota (May 2023)

  • Broadband providers notify OBD if they can already serve any of the addresses (May 2023)

  • Reverse auction begins (May 2023)

  • Broadband service providers have 60 days to submit bids (July 2023)

  • OBD selects winning bids (September 2023)

  • OBD enters contracts with all winning bidders (October 2023)

  • Winning bidders have one year to build the line extension (October 2024)

So it’s never a bad time to submit an application but it looks like the next time they will send the list of addresses to providers will be November 2023. Also interesting to see that the winning bids will be announced this month.

Also from the OBD website is the map of applicant locations at right.

More info on Lismore Cooperative’s MN State Broadband awards in Nobles County

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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.

More information on the Independence Border to Border award with MidCo (Hennepin County)

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Hometown Source reports…

The city of Independence has been looking for ways to provide broadband access to more of its residents for some time.

In January 2023, the city council approved a motion to apply for grant money through the State of Minnesota to accomplish that goal.

That grant money was awarded by the state when Gov. Tim Walz announced that Midco Communications had been awarded a $1,519,500 grant from the Minnesota Department of Employment and Economic Development (DEED) through the Office of Broadband Development’s Border-to-Border Broadband Program to bring high-speed and reliable broadband to unserved and under-served areas of Independence and Greenfield.  …

This grant will cover a portion of the more than $3 million total cost to improve connectivity to more than 400 homes, businesses and farms in the Independence area.

Midco partnered with Hennepin County, which contributed $250,000 for the project, and received letters of support from Hennepin County, the City of Independence, and federal and local elected officials from the area. There were also more than 80 individual letters of support from residents sharing their experiences with poor connectivity and the need for a high-speed, reliable connection.

When the council approved the motion to apply for the grant, Midco said the project would cover 434 homes in Independence and the build-out would start on the north side of Highway 12 and then proceed to the south side, with the projected expected to be completed by 2024. Hennepin County grant recipients would have to complete projects by the end of 2024.