Earlier this month, the Dakota County Board of Commissioners reviewed a draft of Guiding Principles for Dakota County Broadband Projects. The great news for the rest of us is that Commission has shared these Principles by posting their approved notes on the Dakota County web site.

I’ll borrow the purpose of the principles from the document itself…

This document outlines the guiding principles governing the process for the development of this [broadband] infrastructure, cost sharing with partners, disposal and revenue sharing of unused fiber, and methods of introducing public/private partnerships in the delivery of Internet service to Dakota County with the intent to promote economic development for business and residents of Dakota County.

There are four Principles:

• Principle 1: Collaboration for the development of fiber optics networks
• Principle 2: Development of a Commercial Network (C-Net) – To promote economic development
• Principle 3: Installing conduit along county highway and parks projects
• Principle 4: Wi-Max infrastructure development in conjunction with C-Net

Each principle is fleshed out with specific and detailed steps to take to promote broadband and capitalize on what is happening in the community. We’ve seen counties emerge as the drivers for broadband in the community. I always figured one reason was because through county leaders (as opposed to city leadership) you can reach the least served areas, which often fall between towns and cities. This document has opened my eyes to another reason that county leadership makes sense – the county is able to see opportunities (such as highway development) that are happening in a wider geographic circle. The map at the right is one example of a map that would prove useful if planning a fiber installment.