Last week I posted responses from the Blandin Foundation and Senator Klobuchar to the Broadband Opportunity Council. This week I’m happy to share notes from the Minnesota Office of Broadband Development. Their notes are considerably longer, so I’ll excerpt some below and link to the comments in their entirety…

How can the federal government promote best practices in broadband deployment and adoption? What resources are most useful to communities? What actions would be most helpful to communities seeking to improve broadband availability and use?

MNOBD Response: The MNOBD has several suggestions to assist in overcoming the challenges related to the deployment and adoption of broadband that would be helpful to states and communities. A useful tool would be a one-stop website that identifies resources that are available across all federal agencies for broadband deployment and adoption. With one website to link the resources available at the federal level, users, providers and communities would be readily able to identify information and support to assist in their individual situation. Federal programs would also be better able to connect the resources they have available to the population that is most likely to benefit. NTIA, with its expertise on broadband, could be tapped to lead and coordinate the development of this website.

Continuing federal support and maintenance of a national broadband map at a higher granularity than census block level would also be a useful endeavor. If federal agencies truly are interested in assuring that broadband deployment and competition are available to more people and more communities, than there must be a mechanism to measure that availability. What gets measured gets done!

The MNOBD would also recommend that the BOC enable the development of a framework for “It Takes All Hands” approach to closing the gaps in access and adoption. In addition to federal resources, “All Hands” include large and small providers, along with state and local governments. Agencies should be freed or directed to work with states on coordination of strategies and tactical moves. NTIA’s BroadbandUSA program, which has already developed expertise on broadband, could be expanded to lead the “All Hands” framework at the federal level. Included within this framework would be a continuation of NTIA’s role in creating, collecting and maintaining aggregated on-line best practices resources.

Federal agencies should also confer with states before awarding grants and be open to additional inputs when evaluating investment opportunities. There should be an awareness of state broadband development plans and priorities so that opportunities to leverage each other’s investments can be identified.

When federal agencies are interacting with state partners as part of their normal working relationship and broadband issues arise, our federal partners can help reinforce the value of including state broadband planning representatives in the discussions and planning processes.

Another area where the federal government can coordinate with states is by sharing data that can be used to create broadband investment priority maps. Examples include geospatial E-rate data, locations of veterans eligible for telehealth services, FirstNet RAN network map with areas of sub-optimal coverage identified so state investments can give them a priority ranking, and high priority agricultural management areas that could benefit from connected Ag tech applications.

In addition to the above thoughts on best practices, the MNOBD also supports the following specific ideas for resources and actions that would be useful to communities and providers working to improve their broadband situation and demonstrate the federal agencies see broadband as a priority:

• The standardization of permitting forms, policies and standards across federal land management agencies. 
• The creation of standard agreements between federal agencies to ensure interagency cooperation and coordination. 
• The allocation of federal staff specifically for telecommunications permitting to minimize processing times.  The development of standard processing times (less than one year) so providers can schedule construction projects in a timely manner. 
• The easing of permitting requirements in previously disturbed areas such as dedicated corridors and roadways. 
• The implementation of a tool that would allow broadband providers the opportunity to learn about, with appropriate lead times, and be able to install infrastructure during other construction projects. 
• The designation of corridors to install backhaul fiber to existing communications sites. 
• The establishment of an electronic application system that tracks the permitting process and have staff input requests for information and applicants allowed to supplement documentation to ensure applicants do not have to resubmit information. 
• The designation of a state contact for each state to ensure consistency across field offices, forests, national parks. 
• In coordination across federal agencies, and with significant input from state officials, have land management agencies designate broadband corridors that would connect communities, cell tower sites, government facilities and other areas of economic activity. These corridors should be included in planning documents (e.g. Resource Management Plans). State and federal agencies could assist broadband providers to help determine areas of need and proactively encourage them to install services in these broadband corridors through a simplified permitting process. 
• Federal agencies could be provided with funding to connect government facilities and allow broadband providers the opportunity to bid on projects. These agencies could serve as anchor tenants, and additional conduit installed during projects that may be used to serve future needs. These agencies could also encourage colocation opportunities on communications sites (e.g. existing towers).
• An inventory of federal assets accessible by providers or communities interested in improving their broadband services would also be a useful tool at the local level.