Gov. Tim Walz on Monday announced $52 million in grants to expand broadband access to an estimated 7,700 homes and businesses throughout Minnesota, including a project in Faribault and Freeborn counties for $1.78 million with Blue Earth Valley Telephone Co.

“Investing in broadband infrastructure benefits businesses and communities across the state,” Walz said. ”By connecting thousands of Minnesotans to businesses, education and health care through broadband, we’re making Minnesota the best place to work, live and do business.”

Earlier this year, Walz announced over $50 million to expand broadband access to an estimated 8,900 homes and businesses throughout Minnesota. In May 2023, Governor Walz signed legislation providing $100 million to the state’s broadband grant funding program for the biennium.

“Broadband is an essential resource that gives Minnesota an economic competitive edge and provides more choices on where to work and live,” said DEED Commissioner Matt Varilek. ”It bolsters communities’ efforts to not only promote business attraction and expansion, but also empowers existing businesses with the many benefits that high-speed service can provide.”

The grant awards announced this week will help broadband providers expand high-speed broadband service in 24 counties across Minnesota. The grants come from two DEED programs:

• $25 million from 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.
• $27 million from the 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. The grants can be worth up to $10 million and cover up to 75% of the total cost of a project.

To date, DEED has awarded over $400 million in Border-to-Border or Low Population Density grants, providing broadband access to nearly 120,000 homes and businesses. Communities and internet service providers contributed over $48 million in matching funds for this grant round and over $400 million for all grant rounds to date.

DEED will continue administering nearly $652 million in federal Broadband Equity, Access and Deployment (BEAD) Program funding from the Biden-Harris Bipartisan Infrastructure Law to expand broadband to the most unserved and underserved Minnesotans.

“Minnesota’s impressive broadband infrastructure progress and ongoing efforts are largely due to strong partnerships. As we celebrate this 10-year milestone, I want to thank our state leaders for appropriating the funds needed to continue this essential work and applaud our county and community leaders who recognized broadband’s value and provided the matching funds required to qualify for these state grants,” said Office of Broadband Development Executive Director Bree Maki. “I also want to commend our state’s broadband providers — from national names to small community co-ops and family-run businesses — who stepped forward to take on projects that are often challenging or located in the state’s most remote regions.”