Competition to offer high-speed service is ramping up as various projects develop Posted
Keith Vandervort
ELY – As a variety of high-speed fiber projects get off the ground here, a long-time cable provider recently announced they want to join the party as competition increases.
Existing cable and internet customers who are frustrated with all-too-common service disruptions recently learned that Midco activated more than 200 additional miles of fiber to create a northern Minnesota fiber ring that adds diverse network paths for the Ely area.
The expansion and investment by the cable provider is an effort to reduce or eliminate service disruptions caused by fiber cuts and other sources of internet and business connections. Their recent investment announcement also appears to give the cable provider a bigger piece of the broadband pie in the immediate Ely area.
Keith Vandervort
ELY - The city of Ely was one of 12 northeastern Minnesota communities that received grants from the Department of Iron Range Resources and Rehabilitation to address economic hardships created by the coronavirus pandemic.
The Taconite Area Community Relief Grant was established in July by the IRRR, and all 12 applicants were funded.
Ely matched a $125,000 grant with $30,000 of its own, and six businesses that have been hurt by the COVID-19 business shutdowns have received $77,000 in forgivable loans thus far.
Additional forgivable loans could be provided to other Ely businesses in the coming weeks, according to Ely Clerk-Treasurer Harold Langowski.