USDA reports…

Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue today announced that the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) is investing $97 million in 12 projects (PDF, 104 KB) to provide or improve rural broadband service in 11 states.

“A person’s location should not determine whether he or she has access to modern communications infrastructure,” Secretary Perdue said. “That is why USDA is partnering with businesses and communities by investing in state-of-the-art broadband e-connectivity to remote and rural areas. These investments will expand access to educational, social and business opportunities for 22,000 subscribers to help grow their rural communities and America’s economy.”

USDA is making the investments through the Telecommunications Infrastructure Loan Program and the Community Connect Grant Program.

Good news – one project is based in Minnesota. Here’s more info on that project…

Recipient: Garden Valley Telephone Company
Loan amount: $20,360,000
Project description: This Rural Development investment will be used to make system improvements in Polk, Clearwater, Pennington, Marshall and Red Lake counties, and in the vacation resort areas of Maple Lake and Union Lake. The borrower proposes to construct 295.1 miles of fiber-optic facilities and construct fiber-to-the-premises (FTTP) facilities. These improvements will enable Garden Valley to enhance services and provide voice, video and higher broadband speeds for subscribers.