Minnesota expands rural broadband internet access, aims to reach more communities

(St. Paul, MN) -- Governor Walz is happy with Minnesota's progress in expanding rural access to high-speed Internet service but says there's still more work to do.  

Walz was in Blue Earth County yesterday talking about the state's investment in rural broadband. The Office of Broadband Development has allocated about $300 million in grants over the past ten years, and 46,000 homes and businesses were connected to broadband over the last year.  But there are still nearly 230,000 Minnesotans who do not have access to high-speed Internet.  

“The momentum behind our work to expand high-speed broadband access across the state is connecting more Minnesotans to their jobs, their businesses, their health care, and their friends and family,” said Governor Walz. “We’re helping our network of providers expand this critical infrastructure to thousands of homes and businesses, improving quality of life for Minnesotans, making businesses more competitive, and connecting folks to critical services.”

The Office of Broadband Development plans to hand out another $50 million grants next month.