Doug Dawson looks at recent rights-or-way decisions with railroads

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Doug Dawson from CCG Consulting reports…

The 7th Circuit Court of Appeals made a recent ruling that could end up eliminating one of the biggest rights-of-way issues that slow down fiber construction projects. In the case of CSX Transportation v. Zayo Group, LLC, the court ruled that the easement that CSX owns for its railroad tracks only applies to the surface of the Earth and that the railroad right-of-way does not extend either above or below the tracks.

The court said specifically that the installation of underground fiber lines or overhead fiber lines that are tall enough not to interfere with trains does not constitute “continuous trespass”. This ruling means that Zayo is free to place the fiber without the railroad company’s permission and that Zayo doesn’t have to pay any one-time or ongoing fees for the rights-of-way.

The court said that the right-of-way still belongs to the actual landowner. That’s an important distinction, because most railroad lines were granted an easement to build the railroad lines, and were not given outright ownership of the land. The land under the tracks is still owned by a local government or a private landowner. Since most fiber crossings for railroads happen where the railroad tracks cross a public road, then the state, county, or city that maintains that road still owns the actual rights-of-way and can grant it to a fiber overbuilder just like they grant rights-of-way along all public roads.

It’s an interesting decision and one, that as Doug points out, could have some loud repercussions. Permitting and rights-or-way have always been roadblocks, or at least slow-downs for providers and this is adding to the uncertainty. A whole new look at the wrong side of the tracks!

 

EVENT Sepr 16, 2026: AI Skills Jam for Older Adults: Twin Cities, MN

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Apparently, there’s a one-day event happening in 10 cities across the country on September 16. (Including the Twin Cies.) Senior Planet and OpenAI Academy are teaming up to put on an: AI Skills Jams for Older Adults, to offer hands-on events designed to help older adults learn how to use ChatGPT confidently, safely, and practically. 

Here’s more info on the session in the Twin Cities…

Please join us on September 16th for a free, in-person learning experience designed to help older adults use ChatGPT confidently, safely, and practically. This workshop is hosted by OpenAI Academy in collaboration with Senior Planet from AARP and Senior Community Services.

  1. Date: September 16
  2. Time: 9:00am – 12:00pm CT (optional Q&A and practice time until 1:00pm)
  3. Location: The Heritage Center of Brooklyn Center

What is the AI Skills Jam for Older Adults?

The AI Skills Jam for Older Adults is a nationwide, hands-on workshop that helps older adults move from curiosity to practical use. Attendees will be guided through instructions, explore everyday use cases, build skills with support from mentors, and leave with resources for continued learning.

Why attend?

  1. Free stuff! Attendance to the Jam is free. We’ll provide breakfast, OpenAI swag, 12 months free of ChatGPT Plus, and we’ll send you home with a tasty sweet treat.
  2. Hands-on practice: Join us to learn how to use ChatGPT and get hands-on practice in a safe learning environment.
  3. Beginners welcome: No coding or technical background required. Participants will get a guided introduction to ChatGPT.
  4. Learn from mentors and peers: Get support from trained OpenAI facilitators and mentors, and learn alongside peers in your community.

How to Register:

Registration takes ~5 minutes: Please click the blue “Register” button on the right to complete the form. Need help? Call the Senior Planet from AARP hotline at 888-713-3495 (MON-FRI 9am-8pm / SAT 9am-2pm ET) to register by phone, or reach out to us via email at jam@openai.com.

We can’t wait to learn and jam with you!

Register!

 

EVENT Sept 29, 2026: Rural Voice Townhall – Topic: Data Centers: Facts, Fiction and the Future in Faribault (Rice County)

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The Faribault Daily News reports…

The Rural Voice town hall series, designed to elevate conversations from across Greater Minnesota, returns for its fifth season this September. Moderated by Minnesota Public Radio’s Kerri Miller, the 2026 series features a new lineup of free, in-person discussions exploring some of the biggest opportunities and challenges shaping the future of rural Minnesota — from workforce housing and retaining local talent to strengthening community belonging, revitalizing Main Streets and understanding the impacts of data centers.

More details…

Each discussion is recorded and will be played a week later on Minnesota Public Radio.

Tuesday, Sept. 29 — Faribault

Topic: Data Centers: Facts, Fiction and the Future

Location: Cork and Pints

Doors open at 5 p.m.

Discussion from 6-7:30 p.m., followed by a reception.

Monticello gets more details on proposed data center (Wright County)

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Hometown Source reports…

After months of questions, speculation and debate, Monticello residents are getting their clearest view yet at what a proposed data center campus south of the city could eventually become.

A revised application submitted by Monticello Tech on Aug. 3 doesn’t answer every question. The developer still has not identified the company that would ultimately operate the campus, and many details — from building architecture to electrical demand and emergency backup systems — won’t be finalized until later in the approval process.

But compared with the original application submitted July 6 — one city staff deemed incomplete later that month — the revised submission paints a far more detailed picture of the proposed development.

The City must determine whether the application is complete…

The city has 15 business days from receiving the Aug. 3 submission — until Friday, Aug. 21 — to determine whether the application contains all of the information required under its recently adopted Data Center Planned Unit Development ordinance.

The article proceeds to shar details on the project and potential impacts on the community. It also provides a quick look at the numbers…

Monticello Tech by the numbers

547 acres — Approximate total project area

364 acres — Approximate developable area

3 million square feet — Maximum data center development allowed under the proposal

2 million square feet — Conceptual development scenario used for many current planning calculations

Up to 8 — Potential principal data center buildings

75,000 gallons per day — Estimated average water use, roughly equivalent to the daily water use of 273 households

$73.5 million — Current estimated infrastructure cost

$300 million — Developer’s estimated taxable value at 2 million square feet

$7 million per year — Developer’s projected annual property taxes at that buildout

4-8 years — Estimated campus buildout period

2028 — Earliest projected start of construction

2030 — Projected substantial completion of the first phase

MN Broadband Task Force August 2026: rural libraries and workforce training

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The MN Broadband Task Force heard from national speakers on rural libraries and workforce training. Also, there was a big update from the Office of Broadband Development.

10:00 a.m. – 10:15 a.m. – Welcome from Teddy Bekele, Chair, Minnesota Governor’s Task Force on Broadband and approval of minutes from June Task Force meeting.

10:15 a.m. – 10:45 a.m. – Presentation from Kate Laughlin, Executive Director, Association for Rural & Small Libraries and Brooke Van Eyk, Development Director, Association for Rural & Small Libraries.

  • Last year IMLS (funds libraries) suffered steep cuts last year
  • Shining a light on rural libraries
  • They have 3000 members; 80 in Minnesota
  • Some rural areas have limited broadband access – but they can get access in the library
  • Working with private foundations on library grants
  • Coleraine, Two Harbors and Lake Agassi will be participating in grant/education programs

Q: E-rate. Are struggles with getting broadband internal infrastructure or connectivity?
Both.
Q: What do people do online in the library?
Many things. We don’t judge. Online training is one example, especially in areas where the local industry is dying.
How to access telehealth because the hospital has closed or specialists aren’t close enough to visit in person
What about Tribal connections?

10:45 a.m. – 11:30 a.m. – Presentation from C-Tech’s Sara Syverson on Broadband Workforce Training: Building Career Pathways Through Hands-On Learning

  • Works with Moose Lake

Q: Have you done the training in k12?
Yes – work in the high schools.
Q: Do you do any tower-climbing classes?
Not yet
Q: What are high demand jobs?
Tower technicians especially travel, FTTP deployments – last mile home installation

11:30 a.m. – 11:45 a.m. – Office of Broadband Development (OBD) overview and updates from Bree Maki (Executive Director, OBD).

  • Digital Equity Grant: changes are to competitive grants. NTIA is looking at December for those grants to be available again. But these are not capacity grants. These are the grants that NTIA administered directly.
    Commerce Targets December 2026 to Reopen Digital Equity Competitive
  • There’s another suit to try to get some funding back.
  • BEAD: Have first signed grant agreement with ECE for a fiber deployment. Working on other (80+) contracts as well.
  • Contract deadline is Aug 8.
  • Working with tribal partners
  • Have updated the website
  • Folks are going to NTIA conference in fall
  • Some BEAD grantees have dropped out due to higher costs, uncertainty in guidance
  • Line Extension – still happening – but need to be done by the end of the year. (Requirement of Capitol Projects). Still hoping for one last quick round.
  • Looking at Line Extension 6 for the future with State funding
  • Capitol Projects: we are under a desk review. Need approval for a budget modification.
  • Running into issues with reimbursement – for OBD and grantees
  • OBD sent a letter to Treasury to get unused dollars to meet extensions.
  • Border to Border Round 9 still have 24 projects out – but ready for close out
  • Border to Border 10 projects are on track.
  • The MN Broadband Charter monthly meetings continue.
  • We see more hiccups with environmental policy/permitting could cause more slow-downs.

Q: Is round 5 safe?
Yes. But we can’t pay until OBD gets paid.

11:45 a.m. – 12:00 p.m. – Open the floor to other business, September’s meeting plans, and meeting wrap-up.

  • Sep 16 meeting with be virtual; next meeting at MidCo
  • Will start talking about the annual report

Doug Dawson on reasons to support Public WiFi

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Doug Dawson reports on the POTS and PANS blog…

One of the most interesting positive things that came out of the COVID pandemic was that communities and organizations across the country deployed public WiFi hotspots. This was done at the time to support students and workers who were expected to find a way to work remotely. And this worked well in a lot of places, and I’ve talked to communities who said the public flocked to the free WiFi during the pandemic.

There was another benefit of the free hot spots – they created places where people who couldn’t afford broadband suddenly had a place to access the Internet. This number of people varies by community, but the nationwide numbers suggest that around 14% of homes don’t have a home broadband solution, and as many as 80% of those folks say they would buy a home broadband solution if they could afford it.

As I wrote about in a recent blog, the number of homes without broadband is unfortunately growing due to affordability issues related to the other increasing costs of daily life like rent, food, health care, and transportation. An increasing number of homes are finding it harder to maintain their broadband connection. Several ISPs have told me about a growing number of broadband customers that regularly disconnect and then reconnect broadband during the year depending on their ability to pay the bill.

The post goes on to talk about aspects of providing public WiFi to the community.

Federal appeals back fiber provider in railroad dispute

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Broadband Breakfast reports…

A federal appeals court has sided with a fiber provider in a dispute over whether a railroad can control, and charge for, access beneath its tracks.

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit ruled Friday that CSX Transportation could not use its Indiana railroad easements to block Zayo Group from running fiber optic cable beneath its corridor.

Office of Broadband Development Update Aug 12 2026: BEAD, Line Extension and Digital Equity Grant

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From the Office of Broadband Development...

Broadband Matters: Office of Broadband Development Updates

  • Broadband Task Force, August meeting plans
  • Federal decisions reset Digital Equity Grant timeline
  • Broadband, Equity, Access and Deployment (BEAD) updates
  • Line Extension Connection Program, registration open for residents and businesses

OBD Executive Director Bree Maki had the opportunity to present at Mountain Connect on Minnesota’s approaches and best practices for BEAD.

Broadband Task Force, August meeting plans

The Broadband Task Force will meet tomorrow, Thursday August 13 at 10 a.m. CT. This meeting will be held virtually and is open to anyone from the public to attend. The Teams link to join the meeting is included on the meeting agenda which has been posted along with other information on past meetings on the Broadband Task Force webpage.

Federal decisions reset Digital Equity Grant timeline

Two recent federal court rulings have reshaped national Digital Equity Act (DEA) programs and clarified what is, and is not, changing for Minnesota.

In NDIA v. Trump, the court ruled that the administration lacked authority to terminate the DEA Competitive Grant Program, requiring National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) to reinstate it without race‑based criteria. A DOJ/Commerce memo confirms a new Competitive Grant NOFO is expected in December 2026. This ruling affects only the national Competitive Grant Program administered by NTIA. More information on the ruling is available from the Benton Institute.

In State of New Jersey et al. v. OMB, where Minnesota is an active plaintiff, the court found that federal agencies cannot terminate awarded grants based on newly announced priorities, strengthening protections for state‑administered programs. Counts II and III remain pending.

Importantly, there is no new information regarding Minnesota’s State Digital Equity Capacity Grants, and there has been no reinstatement of that program. We continue monitoring federal developments and will adjust if future changes occur. Updates will be relayed through this newsletter and on the OBD Digital Opportunity webpage.

Please feel free to reach out to our office with questions at DEED.broadband@state.mn.us or by phone at 651-259-7610.

Broadband, Equity, Access and Deployment (BEAD) updates

OBD is continuing to work through required project scope changes and preparing contracts for execution. These scope changes often include removing locations newly identified as already served or re‑awarding locations when providers decline an award. Updated information and resources can be found on the OBD BEAD webpage. Additionally:

Because the NTIA must approve project scope changes, the review process can take several weeks. OBD will continue coordinating closely with partners to keep projects moving and to meet the federal contracting deadline of October 8, 2026.

Providers and community members can contact OBD (DEED.broadband@state.mn.us) with questions.

Line Extension Connection Program, registration open for residents and businesses

Registration remains open for residents and businesses for future rounds of the Line Extension Connection Program.

For assistance completing the application or to request a paper form to complete, please call 651-259-7610 or email DEED.broadband@state.mn.us.

More information and registration are available on the Line Extension Connection Program webpage.

Gubernatorial candidate Amy Klobuchar talks about data centers

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KFGO reports…

Democratic nominee for Minnesota Governor Amy Klobuchar is sharing her plans if elected governor. She says Minnesota needs a government that matches the drive and ambition of it’s residents.

And specifically on data centers…

Klobuchar also commented on data centers.

“(Data centers) Cause people’s rates to go up, they have hurt the environment, and that just can’t keep happening. So my answer to this is number one, local control. Allowing the locals to make decisions, one data center isn’t the same as another one. Secondly, Minnesota did put in place a more progressive law, that is much more focused on electric rates and on the environment and things like that. The fact that some of this is in the dark from people, and they sign these non-disclosure agreements, things like that, I don’t think that should be happening.” Klobuchar said.

Event Aug 19: #Building for Digital Equity MLK “Dream” Speech Edition

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From NDIA (National Digital Inclusion Alliance) and Institute for Local Self Reliance…

On Wednesday, August 19, just eight days before the anniversary of King’s speech, the on-going webinar series returns to pose a pointed question to the digital inclusion community: what is our dream for digital equity — and what kind of ecosystems do we need to, at last, build a “Beloved (connected) Community?”

 

Co-hosted by the Institute for Local Self-Reliance Community Broadband Networks Initiative and the National Digital Inclusion Alliance (NDIA), the live-streamed webinar — “Normalcy, Never Again” — takes its name from the spirit of King’s August 28, 1963 address and will serve as a rallying point to reaffirm that the digital equity movement will not accept business as usual or be managed into irrelevance.

Sponsored once again by UTOPIA Fiber, the B4DE livestream is slated for August 19th at 3 p.m. ET and will bring together national policy experts, local leaders, and community advocates working in the trenches of digital inclusion. 

Registration is now open above

The livestream will be available (and later archived) onFacebook,YouTube, andLinkedIn with live viewer questions answered by the invited speakers and presenters, which is still being finalized. We will also be live posting from the Community Broadband NetworksBluesky page.

Register online.

Broadband Breakfast looks at the Farm Bill, economic impact and BEAD in Minnesota

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The Daily Yonder posts an article from Broadband Breakfast’s Drew Clark about broadband in rural areas. It starts with a look at the impact of the Farm Bill on Reconnect funding…

The current fight [related to the Farm Bill] between the House and Senate over SNAP funding levels has been the loudest obstacle to passage, and proved to be the case on Thursday. But tucked inside the Farm Bill’s rural development title is a provision that governs the future of the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s ReConnect broadband program.
eConnect has provided more than $4.4 billion in loans and grants for rural broadband deployment since 2018, reaching some of America’s most remote and expensive-to-serve communities. The House Farm Bill, passed in April by a narrow 224-200 margin, would make ReConnect permanent.

But the House version sets minimum project speeds at just 50 Megabits per second (Mbps) for downloads and 25 Mbps for uploads. And it restricts eligibility to areas lacking 25 Mbps for downloads and 3 Mbps for uploads for service. Critics say that – as with previous broadband programs such as the Connect America Fund deploying broadband at 10 Mbps for downloads and 1 Mbps for uploads, such low thresholds would doom Rural America to a lower tier of service.

The proposed Senate version takes a more ambitious approach. In addition to making ReConnect permanent, it would use higher required speeds and broader eligibility. At a previous hearing on the topic before the Senate Agriculture Committee, Jesse Shekleton, director of Broadband Operations at Jo-Carroll Energy pushed for the higher speed standard. “Demands for bandwidth on farms will continue to grow,” he said

The Farm Bill also matters for broadband beyond ReConnect. Both the House and Senate versions would codify technical assistance for rural broadband planning and include provisions preventing ReConnect from overlapping with the Broadband Equity, Access and Deployment (BEAD) grant program of the U.S. Commerce Department.

Looks at economic impact…

Broadband and rural economic development was the subject of Wednesday’s Broadband Breakfast Live Online discussion. In it, panelists said that broadband has become the price of admission for a rural community rather than a growth strategy on its own.

Well-connected rural counties post 18% higher per capita income and roughly 210% higher business growth than underserved peers, according to a Center for Rural Innovation study cited by Bartlett Cleland, executive director of the Innovation Economy Alliance.

And there’s a look at BEAD in Minnesota…

But being approved [for BEAD] is not the same as being built. Minnesota’s projects will reach 74,739 locations with $378.9 million in federal money and nearly $190 million in matching funds. The state must place its remaining initial projects under contract by Oct. 8. Getting the first one signed took more than 18 rounds of revisions with federal reviewers.

And often, the fights are over poles. Electric cooperatives, which own much of the existing pole infrastructure in rural America and are well-positioned to build broadband alongside it, are finding BEAD’s pole attachment rules onerous. Two co-ops said they turned down tentative BEAD awards entirely because compliance costs made the projects unworkable. 

NTIA, however, has defended this pole-attachment policy as necessary for deployment.

MN OBD’s Bree Maki talks about impact of inflation on BEAD at the Mountain Connect conference

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Broadband Breakfast reports...

As Broadband Equity, Access, and Deployment program projects begin to get underway, rising project costs could be a potential pain point.

“We are seeing this across the board with providers,” said Bree Maki, executive director of Minnesota’s broadband office. She spoke at the Mountain Connect conference here in Denver.

Applicants bid for grants under the $42.45 billion BEAD program nearly one year ago, and under new Trump administration rules that prioritized cost-efficient builds. In the meantime, inflation has continued apace and AI companies’ demand for American-made fiber has grown.

EVENT Aug 13: MN Broadband Task Force – presentation on Broadband Workforce Training

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As usual, I will be attending and archiving the meeting. Here’s the agenda from the Office of Broadband Development…

Agenda: Broadband Task Force, August Meeting

Date: 08/13/2026

Virtual Meeting Join the meeting now.

· Meeting ID and Pass Code: 276 968 050 478 96 and dG7PZ6Cs · Dial in by phone: +1 651-395-7448,,140848162# or Find a local number · Join on a video conferencing device: Tenant key: mn@m.webex.com and Video ID: 115 639 359 2

 

Meeting Agenda

10:00 a.m. – 10:15 a.m. – Welcome from Teddy Bekele, Chair, Minnesota Governor’s Task Force on Broadband and approval of minutes from June Task Force meeting.

10:15 a.m. – 10:45 a.m. – Presentation from Kate Laughlin, Executive Director, Association for Rural & Small Libraries and Brooke Van Eyk, Development Director, Association for Rural & Small Libraries.

10:45 a.m. – 11:30 a.m. – Presentation from C-Tech’s Sara Syverson on Broadband Workforce Training: Building Career Pathways Through Hands-On Learning

11:30 a.m. – 11:45 a.m. – Office of Broadband Development (OBD) overview and updates from Bree Maki (Executive Director, OBD).

11:45 a.m. – 12:00 p.m. – Open the floor to other business, September’s meeting plans, and meeting wrap-up.

“AI relies on access to broadband connectivity” and that’s an issue in remote areas

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The following video doesn’t come from Minnesota. It is from the Indigenous Artificial Intelligence Gathering at the Mila Institute in Montreal, and they are talking about broadband being the barrier to accessing AI in Nunavut and other remote areas. I thought it might speak to some readers, who are experiencing the lack of broadband.

Data center lawsuit could cost Inver Grove Heights taxpayers millions (Dakota County)

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KSTP Eyewitness News reports…

A legal fight over a data center could cost Inver Grove Heights residents millions if the city loses.

The city is being sued by a data center company that submitted its application and said it was in good standing with the city before the Inver Grove Heights City Council approved a one-year moratorium on data centers.

City leaders learned Monday night that losing the lawsuit could cost $20 million — Mayor Brenda Dietrich put that figure into perspective, noting that taxpayers would be footing the bill.

“A resident’s city taxes would go from $1,833 to $3,053, which is an annual increase of $1,220 or 67%. So, just framing that up in real dollar amounts,” said Dietrich.
A city lawyer said Monday the lawsuit would be dropped if the city excludes Q’Levr from that recently passed one-year data center moratorium. Q’Levr wants to build a 54-thousand-square-foot facility at the former Travel Tags building along Carmen Avenue East.
The council voted to change the moratorium to exclude the company, but there are still two more readings before a final vote.

The city is asking for input…

As it sits now, the city is asking people to send written comments. The mayor and council would have to add a public hearing as the process moves forward, and at least two council members supported that Monday night.