Buckman Township set to receive high-speed internet through state grant

Residents of Buckman Township in Morrison County will soon have access to high-speed internet, thanks to an Oct. 9 grant awarded by the Minnesota Department of Employment and Economic Development (DEED). The $1.248 million grant, part of the state’s Border-to-Border Broadband Development Grant Program, will fund a project to bring reliable broadband service to 241 unserved and underserved locations in the area.

Benton Cooperative Telephone Company, the local internet service provider also known as Benton Communications, will fund the remaining 65% of the project cost, with Buckman Township itself contributing an additional $10,000. This Border-to-Border grant program aims to incentivize providers to expand broadband infrastructure in rural and hard-to-reach areas of Minnesota.

The project is set to begin construction in June 2025, with completion expected by December of the same year. Once finished, residents and businesses in Buckman Township will have access to internet speeds of at least 100 Mbps download and 100 Mbps upload, meeting the state’s 2026 speed goals.

Read the full article from the Morrison County Record here.