Earlier this week the House leadership held a press conference on the broadband development bill. It has spurred some discussion in local papers: In Marshall, The Independent reports from a recent press conference call with Coalition of Greater Minnesota Cities and the Greater Minnesota Partnership

Data from the Greater Minnesota Partnership said about 93 percent of households in Twin Cities metro counties have broadband Internet at download speeds of at least 10 megabits per second, compared to about 46 percent of households in greater Minnesota. Broadband service also varies widely from county to county. A little more than four percent of households in Lyon County have broadband Internet at 10 Mbps or more, compared to about 10 percent in Lincoln County and 41 percent in Redwood County. In Murray County, it’s a little less than 2 percent of households. In Yellow Medicine County, the number of households getting broadband speeds meeting state goals is zero, the Greater Minnesota Partnership said.

In Mankato, the Free Press also reports…

Bill VanderSluis, director of regulatory affairs at Mankato-based Enventis (formerly HickoryTech), said the state goal numbers are more complex than they might appear. The state minimum goal is for a download speed of 10 Mbps and an upload speed of 6 Mbps. VanderSluis said that virtually all the service Enventis offer is 10 Mbps or higher on the download side but less than the 6 Mbps upload. (Download speeds refer to how fast things are downloaded to your computer — be it from a web site you’re visiting or a video you are watching. Uploads speeds come into play if you’re uploading photos or a video to, say, YouTube. Because most people spend a lot more time downloading, Internet providers have generally designed systems that give faster downloads than uploads.) “If you look at Minnesota as a whole, over 98 percent (of households) have 10 Mbps down and 3 Mbps up today,” VanderSluis said. Dan Dorman, executive director of the Greater MN Partnership, a former state representative and tire store owner in Albert Lea, said their interest in better broadband is purely for economic development reasons. “We heard from businesses in all parts of the state about the need for better Internet service.

And provides an update that cuts to the chase, the Senate needs to look at it.. The Senate’s supplemental budget has nothing for broadband funding.

“The fate rests with the Minnesota Senate. They have been totally silent on this issue,” Flaherty said, adding that they will be lobbying those senators in coming days and weeks. The coalition had been pushing for $100 million for broadband expansion and upgrades. Gov. Mark Dayton supports funding but hasn’t given a specific figure he’d like to see. Dayton Thursday said he was open to spending $100 million more of the state’s surplus in the supplemental budget and said some should go toward broadband. But Flaherty said it’s not clear if Dayton was suggesting more should be added beyond the $25 million figure in the House bill. VanderSluis said that part of the debate taking place in the Legislature is how best to spend public money on broadband. “Should we be looking at increasing speeds first or should be looking at (adding) availability for those who have no service at all?” He said that while faster speeds are always a goal, the telecom industry believes public money should go first to unserved areas rather than increasing speeds in areas that already have service.

Virginia pushes for it..

Iron Range lawmakers are expressing only tepid interest in a $25 million broadband expansion proposal that would establish and improve Internet access for residents of greater Minnesota.  They want more. Several Iron Range House and Senate members are arguing a $25 million funding package just isn’t enough money to get the job done right, especially in northeastern Minnesota. “As much money as that seems like if you look at the actual costs to build out a broadband system — I think it’s a drop in the bucket of what we need,” said Rep. Jason Metsa, DFL-Virginia.

The Pioneer Press reported on the press conference; as did Northland News Center, who noted a DFL connection to the press conference.