Yesterday three members (Margaret Anderson Kelliher, Shirley Walz and Gary Evans) of the Minnesota Broadband Task Force presented their reports to the Senate Committee on Energy, Utilities and Telecommunications. Actually the Senators had received the reports in advance and invited the Task Force in to say more. I was glad that I took video. I think it’s helpful to hear about the Task Force plans…
There were questions from the Senators:
Will you be able to break down education/school conectivity by area or urban/rural? (pg 14)
Yes
Please speak on financial incentives.
Smart tax policy – where policy allows for slightly different treatment and/or work on federal opportuntiies.
You ask about dig once as the right away becomes crowded. It’s difficult when you talk about private sector as seen in Monticello where there are two providers.
We are looking for best practices and hope to bring them to light. We want to provide a template. We don’t want to repeat mistakes of the past. We want good examples of dig once – we are aware of what Dakota County is doing. But if you have folks in your areas with stories we’d like to hear them.
How did you come up with Top Five?
That’s in the statute – it came out of the work of 2009 report.
Do you think it’s doable?
Yes we have a can-do spirit. Everyday there’s a business owner who needs to be better and more efficient – and they drive the speeds. We have a two-prong goal: border to border broadband and adoption.
Pg 12 Barriers to adoption – rural household is a lower percentage.
Wired infrastructure across the state is a huge challenge; broadband (wired & wireless) is a lesser challenge
Public money – will the federal money take us to the goal? Or will the state have to help?
On pg 35 you will see a recounting of the $238 million that came into the state; that doesn’t include the in-kind match. We have tracked the progress. The state did not need to match funds.
We will be looking at what other states have done. Maybe tax credits are an option – they have been embraced in the past as a way to leverage private funding.
What is the long term status of the commission?
IN 2012 we will meet monthly. We’ll provide a December report. At least 6 meetings will happen outside metro area. There are subgroups that will work via telephone and online. We serve at the pleasure of the governor. We may serve through the term – depending also on each member’s availability.
We need to have a plan for legislators too to help get to top five.
The meetings are open to the public?
Yes. They are posted on the Dep of Commerce as well as ConnectMN websites. We hope to increase attention on this issue. We have a regular group that attend.
I’m worried about the last mile connectivity. We just got wireless – it wasn’t broadband but it wasn’t dialup either. Apparently 500 ft from my house everyone has fiber – but doesn’t reach to me. Is there a way to get to that last mile.
As the pipe comes along the lake (for water/sewer) the same applied with fiber. Not every solution will be wired. As technology advanced as higher capacity wireless works out – it will become a greater option.
In many cases we can help spur better public/private partnership.
The provider community has really stepped up in this state, it’s matter of moving forward.
Looking at ARRA – why isn’t JBC on the list and how are they funding it?
HBC is working with 6-community FTTH. We applied for ARRA and didn’t get it. We are financing it ourselves. Equity investments.
The $238 million seems like an inflated number given that some projects are not Minnesota-only. (Such as the Merit network.)
The Senate Committee on Energy, Utilities and Telecommunications also heard from John Schultz and JoAnne Johnson from U-reka Broadband. I think it was helpful to hear from the front lines – and near the end of the video JoAnne was able to answer some of the questions the Senators had about the Task Force reports.