The blue-shaded areas on this Pipestone County map show where Woodstock Communications plans to provide fiber optic internet service using a combination of state grant funds, its own funds and county funds. The green line represents the company’s existing fiber optic production lines.Image courtesy of Woodstock Communications
$1,612,932 Woodstock Communications plans to start building a fiber optic internet network in the Hatfield area in August 2025. Customers may start using the network by the end of 2025.
That’s part of the information Woodstock Communications General Manager Terry Nelson provided to the Pipestone County Commissioners during their March 26 meeting. Commissioners voted in October to provide $268,822 for the project, which will cover half of the local competition, while Woodstock Communications will cover the other half. In March, the company received a $1,612,932 low-density broadband grant from the state government to cover the remainder of the project’s estimated cost of $2,150,576.
The timeline proposed by Nelson suggests that a grant contract with the state could be signed in April, with engineering and design work possibly occurring between August 2024 and January 2025, and, if permitted, between December 2024 and January 2025. Completed during March 2025, supplies could be available in April 2025, construction could begin in August 2025 and be completed in 2025, with customers able to start connecting between December 2025 and March 2026. Nelson said it will be free for residents to connect their homes to the system, and there are about 120 homes in the project area.
Estimated pricing for broadband service is: $44.95 for 100 mbps upload and download speeds, $54.95 for 250 mbps, $74.95 for 500 mbps, and $104.95 for 1 Gb per second. Nielsen said pricing is consistent with what Woodstock Communications charges in its other service areas.
The project in the Hatfield area will be the first of a four-phase project to provide fiber optic internet access to all rural areas in Pipestone County at an estimated cost of $15,733,299. Nelson said Woodstock Communications plans to seek other grants in the future to fund other phases.
“That’s our goal as a county as well, to apply for available grants and get other work done in the county,” County Commission Chairman Dallas Roeskamp said.