Broadband News Around Minnesota

Support the Minnesota Broadband Vision
Last fall, attendees at the Minnesota Broadband Conference developed a Minnesota Broadband Visionhttp://wp.me/p3if7-3np:

Everyone in Minnesota will be able to use convenient, affordable world-class broadband networks that enable us to survive and thrive in our communities and across the globe.

The Minnesota Broadband Coalition encourages people and organizations to support the effort by endorsing the vision through the Facebook Page. http://wp.me/p3if7-3nV

Minnesota Broadband Task Force
The Task Force finalizes details of their annual report, which should be released soon. They recommend $200 million over  two years for broadband funding (same as last year) and a change to the state broadband speed goals to 25 Mbps down and 3 Mbps up by 2022 and 100 Mbps download and 20 Mbps upload by 2026. http://wp.me/p3if7-3mk

Also Rock County Commissioner Jody Reisch joins the Minnesota Broadband Task Force. http://wp.me/p3if7-3mO

Minnesota Policymakers’ (and Stakeholders’) Views on Broadband

Minnesota:

• Minnesota House proposes $35 million for broadband; 60% to unserved and 40% to underserved http://wp.me/p3if7-3nZ
• Representative Kresha says broadband support isn’t partisan, suggests an assessment of funding from federal, state and private sectors http://wp.me/p3if7-3nS
• Albert Lea Tribune supports more broadband funding http://wp.me/p3if7-3nH
• Brainerd Dispatch and Grand Rapids Herald Reveiw talk about broadband http://wp.me/p3if7-3nD
• Faribault Daily News supports state broadband funding http://wp.me/p3if7-3nB
• Mankato Free Press supports bipartisan funding increase for broadband http://wp.me/p3if7-3ng
• Minnesota policymakers are thinking about student online privacy http://wp.me/p3if7-3nb
• Minnesota House Democrats promote $100 million for broadband http://wp.me/p3if7-3n2
• Who is responsible for universal broadband service? http://wp.me/p3if7-3n0
• $100 million for broadband! Sounds good but what are the details? http://wp.me/p3if7-3mS
• Rep. Ben Lien (Moorhead) puts broadband on his priority list http://wp.me/p3if7-3ma

Federal:

• Senator Klobuchar supports federal funding and dig once policies for broadband http://wp.me/p3if7-3ni
• Franken questions Google’s approach to privacy for students http://wp.me/p3if7-3mY Broadband saves household money – $10,500 annually According to the Internet Innovation Alliance broadband enables Americans to save an average of $11,944 per year on household spending. After factoring in the average annual cost of a mobile data plan and a home broadband connection ($1,440), the annual savings still add up to more than $10,500. http://wp.me/p3if7-3mg USDA Broadband Adoption Program Communities interested in using broadband service to help revitalize small-town main streets and promote economic development are encouraged to apply for Cool & Connected. Deadline is Feb 24. http://wp.me/p3if7-3nl

CNS launches first 100Gb Transport Network in Rural MN
CNS installs 100 Gigabit service to a Minnesota Internet Service Provider. CNS’ transport network covers over 1,100 route miles with 24 pops connecting multiple ISPs, wireless towers, data centers and end users (including hundreds of thousands of out-state users) to both Fargo and the 511 building in Minneapolis. http://wp.me/p3if7-3nO

State Broadband Initiatives
We have compiled a list of state broadband initiatives. We encourage readers to check out the list and send updates or corrections to help create an even better list to share in and out of Minnesota. http://wp.me/p3if7-3n6

Local Broadband News

Carlton County
PCs for People distributes computers to low income households in Carlton County http://wp.me/p3if7-3mi

Dakota County
Dakota County posts RFPs for fiber construction. http://wp.me/p3if7-3mU and http://wp.me/p3if7-3m5

Gaylord
Medical school to open in Gaylord in 2018. http://wp.me/p3if7-3nQ

Princeton
In Princeton it’s not uncommon to see cars pulled up when the library is closed and using devices from their car to get online. http://wp.me/p3if7-3n9

Red Wing
Teens learn to develop and market their mobile apps through classes at Red Wing Ignite. http://wp.me/p3if7-3nr

Redwood County
Redwood County is hosting an open house on February 9 (3-6 pm) at the Redwood County Technology Training Lab to celebrate various broadband projects funded by the Blandin Foundation. http://wp.me/p3if7-3nJ

Renville and Sibley Counties
Calix video features RS Fiber, cooperative FTTH in rural MN, in promotional video. http://wp.me/p3if7-3my

Winona
Hmong business owner moves from St Paul to Winona and learns how to incorporate online tools into their marketing through classes at Project FINE. http://wp.me/p3if7-3nx

Upcoming Events

• Feb 3: E-rate applications are open http://wp.me/p3if7-3nv
• Feb 9: Redwood County Technology Open House http://wp.me/p3if7-3nJ
• Feb 11: Blandin Webinar: Broadband Considerations in Site Selection and Data Centers http://wp.me/p3if7-3mI
• Feb 17: Digital Learning Day http://wp.me/p3if7-3mu
• Feb 21: MN Policy Conference: Broadband Networks, the Backbone of the 21st Century (St Paul) http://wp.me/p3if7-3ms
• April 29: E-rate applications are closed http://wp.me/p3if7-3nv
• Looking for more events? Check out TechDotMN’s calendar http://tech.mn/events/. Many events are based in the Twin Cities but it is a comprehensive list. (If you have an upcoming event, consider submitting it.)

Stirring the Pot

Congratulations to the BBC’s, the alumni communities and their stakeholder groups for the recently awarded Blandin Foundation grants. Overall, there’s a great group of projects to be implemented across rural Minnesota. It is amazing what a relatively small grant of $10,000 or less can do in the hands of a dedicated community.

The next Grant deadline is in March. We are available to help you create a competitive application that will have a positive impact your community. Let us know what you’re thinking and we can help guide the process of creating a great project.

If you’re a BBC that has used its entire allocation from Blandin foundation, consider seeking funding from other sources, either internal to your community or from outside. We have seen many successful projects with limited (or no) budget; they are the result of good collaboration and creativity.

Let us know how we can help!