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St Paul (KROC AM News) - Several planned broadband projects in southeast Minnesota are expected to move forward after they were awarded large grants from the state.

The Minnesota Department of Employment and Economic Development has announced grants totaling nearly $21-million that will help fund 39 projects in mostly rural areas.

The grants are from a program designed to assist broadband providers in building infrastructure “to unserved and underserved locations across the state.”

The projects in southeast Minnesota that received funding in this latest round are:

  • Spectrum has been awarded $28,950 for a project that will serve  approximately 41 unserved households in Marion Township in Olmsted County; project cost is nearly $97,000
  • KMTelecom has been awarded two grants totaling nearly $800,000 for projects that will serve 125 unserved locations in the rural Ashland and Vernon townships in Dodge County and Salem Township in Olmsted County and 96 unserved households, 70 farms and five unserved businesses in rural Vernon Township in Dodge County and Sargeant Township in Mower County; overall cost of both projects: $2.6-million
  • MiBroadband – rural Preston has been awarded a grant of nearly $1.2-million for a project that will serve 231 unserved and 26 underserved locations in the rural portions of southern Fillmore County; project cost is nearly $3.4-million
  • AcenTek – rural Peterson has been awarded a grant of nearly $1.5-million for a project that will serve 214 unserved households, 18 unserved businesses, 88 unserved farms, and two unserved community anchor institutions as well as 47 underserved households and five underserved businesses in areas of Fillmore and Winona counties; project cost is nearly $5-million
  • Nuvera Communications – Goodhue Welch has been awarded a grant of nearly $341,000 for a project south of Welch that will serve 100 unserved and 15 underserved locations in Goodhue County; project cost nearly $974,000
  • Nuvera Communications Goodhue West has been awarded a grant of $532,000 for a project that will serve 148 unserved and two underserved locations in Goodhue, Zumbrota, Minneola, and Belle Creek townships in Goodhue County and Chester Township in Wabasha County; project cost is $1.5-million
  • Winnebago Cooperative Telecom Association – SE Faribault/W Freeborn County has been awarded a grant of $960,000 for a project that will bring service to 319 unserved locations, including 289 homes, 16 businesses, 11 farms, and three community anchor institutions in the townships of Clark, Foster, Kiester, Seely, Alden, Carlston, Manchester, Mansfield, and Pickerel Lake located in Southeastern Faribault and Western Freeborn counties; project cost is $3.2-million
  • BEVCOMM (Cannon Valley Telecom, Inc.) – Rural Morristown has been awarded a grant of nearly $211,000 for a project that will serve approximately 14 unserved and 94 underserved locations in portions of Rice, Waseca, and Steele counties; project cost $527,000

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