Franken Announces Over $13.3 Million for Broadband in Anoka County
Funds Will Create Over 100 Jobs
Today, U.S. Sen. Al Franken (D-Minn.) announced $13,382,593 to strengthen and expand broadband infrastructure in Anoka County. The funds were awarded by U.S. Department of Commerce as part of American Recovery and Reinvestment Act funding to expand broadband services in under-served areas.
"This money will be used to bolster the broadband infrastructure in a part of our state that badly needs it," said Sen. Franken. "It will expand the network with nearly 300 miles of new fiber optic cable and, perhaps more importantly, it will create over 100 jobs in the area."
The project will be a partnership between Zayo Bandwidth, LLC and Anoka County. It will directly connect as many as 145 community anchor institutions and provide affordable broadband service to as many as 141,000 households and 11,000 businesses by allowing internet service providers to utilize the open network.
