Minnesota Department of Employment and Economic Development Undertake Historic Broadband Funding Expansion

The Minnesota Department of Employment and Economic Development (DEED) launched a Request for Proposals (RFP) to award $67.6 million in broadband grants across the state. It further accelerates the Border-to-Border program in pursuit of Minnesota's 2026 goal that all homes and businesses have access to broadband with download speeds of at least 100 megabits per second and upload speeds of at least 20 megabits per second. Eligible broadband providers can use grant funding to reimburse up to half the cost of broadband infrastructure deployed.  Applications must be received by March 2, 2023. Grants will be awarded in early summer, 2023. Additionally, Governor Walz commits $99.6 million in broadband grants for 61 projects in 48 counties, expected to connect to more than 33,000 Minnesota homes and businesses to high-speed broadband. It was the largest single investment in broadband in Minnesota history; before then, DEED had awarded nearly $130 million in Border-to-Border grants to connect more than 57,000 homes and businesses around Minnesota to high-speed broadband since the program's inception in 2014.