04/29/10
Minnesota-based broadband provider seeking funding for improvement
HickoryTech, a broadband provider with headquarters in Mankato, Minnesota, recently announced that it has applied for $16.8 million in funding through federal stimulus grants to improve broadband access and reliability in the state. The company plans to use the funding to improve its fiber-optic network, which will benefit key economic, educational and government institutions throughout the state's under-served rural areas.
The company expects that the project will cost more than $24 million and plans to provide the difference between the federal funding and the total cost out of its own budget. It will likely require an investment of more than $7 million from the company. The company, the largest broadband provider in the state, believes expanding its 2,400-mile fiber-optic network will generate more revenue for the state and local companies than it will cost the federal government.
“HickoryTech has invested millions of dollars to extend its statewide broadband network to reach more than 75 percent of the population of Minnesota," Walt Prahl, president of HickoryTech's wholesale solutions and business development division, said. "The federal broadband stimulus grants will allow for cost-effective expansion of broadband services to high-cost and under-served rural areas across Minnesota.”
Duluth, Minnesota, a town more than 200 miles north of Mankato, considers itself one of the leading competitors for Google's planned one-gigabyte-per-second broadband network. The potential presence of Google is a positive step for the state. Competition drives improvement in capability and affordability, which CNN recently reported lacks severely in the United States' broadband market.s
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