Rural voices are being heard – at least by the media – when it comes to the need for ubiquitous access to broadband, which means support from the State to reach the far corners of Minnesota where low population density and large space make it difficult for a business alone to make a business case to build better broadband.

MinnPost frames the story well..

So­-called “high speed Internet” has been a fact of life in Minnesota’s metropolitan areas long enough that many urban consumers have a hard time remembering the slow, juddering era when photos, much less videos, took “forever” (OK, a minute or more) to download and play. Never mind the reliable, routine streaming of Netflix or HBO Now; the Internet experience “back then” was rudimentary at best.

To paraphrase Bill Clinton, the “was” still “is” the case for 40 percent of Minnesotans beyond the borders of the Twin Cities, Rochester, Duluth and a few other cities. And as the current legislative session grinds through its final days, that situation doesn’t seem likely to change appreciably, despite both parties’ loud promises to be the best friend Greater Minnesotans have ever had.

The article goes on to look at the politics and technology of the issue.