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GOVERNOR WALZ ANNOUNCES NEW BORDER-TO-BORDER BROADBAND GRANTS

On Tuesday, January 21 Governor Tim Walz announced the Minnesota Department of Employment and Economic Development (DEED) is awarding $23,270,933 in Border-to-Border Broadband Development Grant Program funds to 30 broadband projects across the state. The projects will bring high-quality broadband access to underserved and unserved areas of Minnesota, providing fast, reliable internet access for more than 10,900 businesses, homes, and community anchor institutions.

“Fast, reliable broadband access is a critical economic development tool that improves quality of life and makes businesses in Greater Minnesota more competitive,” said Governor Walz. “These grants help us get closer to our goal to ensure that every Minnesotan has high-speed internet access by 2022.”

“You simply can’t participate in the innovation sector — or almost any sector of the economy today, for that matter — without high speed access to the internet,” said DEED Commissioner Steve Grove. “These grants help us reach that last mile of service in Minnesota and our goal to be a model state where you don’t have to move to a metro area to participate in the 21st century economy.”

During the 2019 legislative session, the Governor signed into law a total of $40 million in one-time funds for the Border-to-Border Broadband Development Grant program in 2020 and 2021. Altogether, DEED received requests for $70 million in funding for 80 different applications during the latest grant application round.

The Border-to-Border Broadband Development Grant Program is primarily targeted towards communities in Greater Minnesota, where broadband infrastructure is not as likely to be at a level that is needed to support economic equity. A map of projects awarded grants in 2020 is posted on DEED’s website.

The State of Minnesota has set a goal for universal access and high-speed internet so that by no later than 2022, all Minnesota businesses and homes have access to high-speed broadband that provides minimum download speeds of at least 25 megabits per second and minimum upload speeds of at least three megabits per second. And by no later than 2026, all Minnesota businesses and homes have access to at least one provider of broadband with download speeds of at least 100 megabits per second and upload speeds of at least 20 megabits per second.

This is the fifth year of the Border-to-Border Broadband Development Grant program. The grants announced today bring the number of homes and businesses provided broadband access through the grant program since 2014 to a total of 49,900.

Details about projects awarded grants in northwest Minnesota this year are listed below.

Halstad Telephone Company – Rural East Grand Forks Expansion Project – GRANT $440,000
This last mile project will upgrade approximately 79 unserved and 22 underserved locations in areas of Rinehart, Huntsville, Sullivan, and Grand Forks Townships in Polk County. In a funding partnership with the State of Minnesota, Halstad Telephone Company will improve broadband service levels up to 1 Gbps download and 1 Gbps upload, exceeding the 2022 and 2026 state speed goals. Families living in the project area will improve their education and health with access to e-learning, e-medicine and other quality-of-life opportunities provided through a robust broadband connection. Farms wills be more efficient and reduce their impacts on the environment by utilizing precision farming techniques due to the increased ability to transfer large amounts of agricultural data to consultants in shorter periods of time. Businesses can increase productivity, allow remote working, and better compete on a worldwide scale as they use the improved broadband for operations, marketing, data analytics, and expanded e-commerce opportunities.
Total eligible cost is $1,067,362 — Local match is $627,362

 Wikstrom Telephone – Wiktel NW MN Broadband Project – GRANT $1,151,526
This last mile project will upgrade approximately 316 unserved locations in areas of Kittson, Marshall, Lake of the Woods, Pennington, and Roseau Counties. In a funding partnership with the State of Minnesota, Wikstrom Telephone will improve broadband service levels up to 1 Gbps download and 1 Gbps upload, exceeding the 2022 and 2026 state speed goals. This project will provide service to an area with 1.6 subscribers per route mile of cable, in some cases extending from routes placed under the 2016 and 2017 Border to Border State Grant program. Broadband service is the key to economic development, successful education services for children, and allows at-home health care monitoring in this remote area.
Total eligible cost is $2,558,946 — Local match is $1,407,420

For a list of all recipients around the state click here.

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