Friday was a big day for those of us who have been following the Minnesota Ultra High-Speed Task Force– they unveiled the report and presented it to the legislative committee. I was able to get quite a bit of video. I thought I’d present that here – and highlight the news stemming from the report in another post.
My super short notes on the day… The media folks asked about money. I think the Task Force members made the case that broadband has value, we need to get more people to recognize the value so that they make it a priority purchase. I think that’s true with communities and individuals or businesses. That being said, the Task Force also offers plenty of places to seek funding.
At the legislative meeting, funding did not seem to be the biggest issue. I think the legislators were most interested in getting their constituents the connections they need. They wanted to know how the broadband plan was going to get implemented. Would it get cell phone to their constituents? Would it bring jobs. It seemed to me, and I’m biased, that the policymakers recognized broadband as a necessity – I might even say utility.
See Rick King’s intro
Or check out another video from the event:
Gopal Khanna & Dan McElroy press conference
John Doll & Sheldon Johnson press conference
Letter from Gov Pawlenty read at press conference
My video from the legislative committee session was not great, so I’ll point you to their archive, which it turns out is video.
Blandin on Broadband 