Monthly Archives: July 2018

Catching up with broadband projects in Mountain Iron/Buhl MN: Cool forest education program, new school equipment and feasibility study

Posted on by
Reply

Today we’re in Mountain Iron talking with people about their broadband projects.  They have been part of a project (IRBC) with the Blandin Foundation and IRRRB focused on increasing use of broadband in the area. It was especially fun to hear about a cool project in the school, They have a school forest. Through this program, high school students set up cameras and learned how to develop some programming for younger kids (5th grade) to learn more about forestry. They had some other fun things too – you can read more and see the video below. Continue reading →

Lake County gets first bid for Lake Connections broadband – what is the value of a community network?

Posted on by
4

The Lake County News Chronicle reports…

The federal government stands to lose up to $45 million on Lake County’s broadband project, Lake Connections, after the county accepted an initial bid of $3.5 million in its planned sale of the broadband network.

Pinpoint Holdings Inc. of Lincoln, Neb., submitted the bid for the network, which will serve as the minimum purchase price for the network in a sales procedure also approved by the county during its meeting Tuesday, July 24, in Two Harbors.

The article gives a succinct history of the finances of the network…

In 2010, the board received a $56 million loan and $10 million grant from the Department of Agriculture’s Rural Utilities Service (RUS) to construct the network and over three years, more than 1,200 miles of a fiber network was built throughout Lake County and parts of eastern St. Louis County. Most of the network was completed in June 2015, and the focus shifted to connecting eligible customers to the network with the county pledging $15 million of its own money to fund “drops,” or home connections, that also included a $3.5 million grant from the Federal Communications Commission.

On June 13, 2017, the county entered into a deferral agreement with RUS for principal and interest payments on the condition Lake County sell Lake Connections to provide the federal government with maximum recovery of the loan and grants. When the deferral agreement was executed, the county owed approximately $48.5 million on the RUS loan.

In August 2017, the county executed a memorandum of understanding with RUS in which RUS agreed to accept the sale price of Lake Connections in full satisfaction of the county’s debt for the construction of the network, according to documents provided by Lake County Administrator Matt Huddleston. If the Pinpoint bid is the winning bid, RUS will receive $3.5 million to satisfy the $48.5 million debt.

And the potential for next steps…

If more than five qualified bids are submitted, the top three bidders will be asked to submit a “best and final offer” within 10 days. If there are less than five qualified bids, each entity will be asked submit a final offer.

Lake County was one of five counties we looked at for the reports last year on Measuring Impact of Broadband in 5 Rural MN Communities. It looks at the value of the network in a different lens – specifically we looked at the benefits of the network to the residents. We found that community-wide the residents reap $13.7 million each year and the household value (community-wide) and increased by $38.5 million. We got to those numbers by looking at two formulas – the value of houses with broadband increase 3 percent (times the number of house with broadband) and annual economic benefit per household is $1,850.

That doesn’t pay for the network – but it does demonstrate the value of the network to the community. As part of the research for that report, we spoke to members of the community. Many were quick to say that given the chance, they would go ahead again to help the community reap the benefits.

Gubernatorial candidates prepared to invest in broadband

Posted on by
Reply

MinnPost reported on a recent debate in Mankato. They focused mostly rural-urban equity issues – and the difficulty in getting all of the major candidates to the rural forums. But tt seems like across  parties and at for those who showed up – broadband is an issue that all of willing to address…

Earlier that day, Walz had unveiled his “One Minnesota Community Prosperity Plan,” which includes a pledge to build out the broadband network with state grants. Murphy this week said she would dedicate any new revenue resulting from the state’s collecting sales tax on internet sales to broadband infrastructure. And Johnson said broadband build out would be one of the few areas where he might suspend his no-new-spending promises.

INFORUM covered the debate and mentioned broadband…

Hours before the forum, Walz announced that if elected, he would launch a One Minnesota Community Prosperity Plan, with city and tribal leaders involved. It would, he said, increase spending on Local Government Aid, infrastructure, broadband and workforce housing.

KSTP covered it too and broadband came up…

“We need to make sure people have access to affordable health care and we’ve got to rein in costs at the same time,” Murphy said. “We’ve got to invest in our schools across the state because we haven’t caught up with 2003 and inflation. We have to invest in roads and bridges and broadband.”

Twice…

The event also centered on other issues facing greater Minnesota including increased broadband, access to child care and protecting agriculture.

Story also ran in Minneapolis Star Tribune. 

Tim Walz calls for $300 million for broadband in MN

Posted on by
Reply

Earlier this week I wrote about Erin Murphy’s plan for $100+ million ongoing funding for broadband. It’s great to see that Tim Walz, also running for Governor, is talking about serious money for broadband too $300 million. MPR reports…

Walz is also proposing an increase in the gas tax and a boost in local government aid. He wants to invest $300 million in high-speed internet access throughout the state.

Walz did not did not say how much the overall proposal would cost. He called it a work in progress and did not rule out tax increases.

“If I have to ask the wealthiest Minnesotans to pay, I will ask,” he said.

Sometimes the big decisions made about broadband really don’t relate to broadband

Posted on by
Reply

Someone asked me the other day – who is opposed to broadband? The answer is no one. It would be like being against apple pie. BUT there are people who have different priorities – or extenuating circumstances.

The Free Press reminds us of that perspective in a recent story on How Cities View the 2018 Legislative Session…

There was some good work done at the Minnesota Legislature this year, according to the Coalition of Greater Minnesota Cities. But there were also bad politics and standoffs at play that turned into an ugly legislative process for the state.

That’s the crux behind the coalition’s breakdown of the 2018 legislative session: There were more political standoffs, more closed-door meetings, more omnibus legislation that complicated voting for serious policy and funding that would have benefited rural Minnesota.

Broadband is listed by name as one of the babies thrown out with the bathwater…

“When you sign up to run, you sign up to run as a teammate of everyone else on your party,” Peterson said. “And when you get to the Legislature, you are expected to act as a teammate. Members of the Legislature don’t necessarily take kindly when people who are supposed to be on their team articulate views that are not the views generally being articulated by that team.”

Those factors often lead into large-scale omnibus bills stuffed with unrelated measures that get bogged down with partisan partisan politics. The 989-page omnibus budget bill, nicknamed #OmnibusPrime on Twitter, included everything from broadband funding to surveys on how anglers feel about stocking in Minnesota lakes.

The final version of the bill was introduced three hours before this year’s legislative deadline and ultimately failed to clear the Legislature. Aside from the aforementioned broadband funding, job training money, child care funding and money to fix streets in small cities were also rolled into the failed omnibus bill.

The article also had a fix (according to the Coalition of Greater Minnesota Cities)..

So how do cities address the increasing discontent with Minnesota’s legislative process?

Peterson said the coalition would continue to work with lawmakers and candidates to inform them about key issues. The coalition believes keeping lawmakers informed about rural issues, rather than trying to push legislative fixes, will better benefit Greater Minnesota.

For broadband proponents, I think it’s good that broadband is still on everyone’s mind and that it had bipartisan support. We just need to make sure it continues to be on the radar.

Ely business broadband survey – selling is top benefit now

Posted on by
Reply

Recently we heard from Ely about their participation in the IRBC program. Incredible Ely mentioned their business broadband survey. Incredible Ely works with local entrepreneurs – and as they work they will be tracking progress with future survey. Pam was kind enough to share the results – with a generous offer to talk with anyone about their program (pam@incredibleely.org).

I’m excited to share the results today. This is a baseline survey. They spoke with 60 local businesses and asked them basic questions about their business and broadband use. It’s interesting to see how local businesses are currently using the internet.

As you can see – top “most important use” is selling.

They also asked what businesses could do differently with quality internet. Here’s an abridged list (I removed suggestions that were similar):

  • Could research things faster
  • Develop an online retail presence
  • Greater internet efficiency = greater profits
  • Internet would be faster at work and at home
  • Develop website – advertise store products
  • It would give us the ability to increase online applications and fishing/camping trips
  • It will benefit our business if our individual clients have broadband. This will increase their ability to contact us because their outages will be decreased and they will have greater bandwidth to enable them to utilize some of our company’s services
  • Selling online retail (both in and outside the Ely area), now only sell wholesale
  • Could increase business by being able to get back to customers on a timely basis – Frontier goes down
  • Paying for only one internet service would be nice, now we have two services in case one goes down
  • We would have reliable music through the internet for customers
  • Not known at this point, too new
  • It would help with access to ATM
  • If we had better internet we would look at our marketing differently, internet speed impacts how we market
  • Internet reliability is important. If the internet is down we can’t check-in guests

 

New broadband company to serve rural southeast Minnesota

Posted on by
1

Post Bulletin reports…

Three local cooperatives announced Tuesday they will work together to create a new broadband company that will provide broadband to underserved rural areas.

According to a release, Mabel Cooperative Telephone Co., MiEnergy Cooperative and Spring Grove Communications will create a new company, MiBroadband, and will work to supply fixed, wireless broadband to areas of Southeast Minnesota and Northeast Iowa.

It also said rural areas typically are defined as having less than four subscribers, and that low density makes it more difficult to plow fiber in rural areas. While still in the early stages, the three companies announced this decision stemmed from the belief rural areas should not have hindered access to high-speed internet.

Looks like they will be open for business this fall…

MiBroadband is planned to launch in late fall/early winter, with services rolled out to the Cresco and Rushford areas first. The release said other areas will be announced at a later date.

Erin Murphy Unveils Connect MN Plan ($100M+ per year) to Ensure High-Speed Internet for All Minnesotans

Posted on by
Reply

It’s nice candidates talking about serious investment in Minnesota broadband; nice to have a new pool to draw from…

Today, Erin Murphy, DFL-Endorsed candidate for governor released the Connect MN plan which aims to provide border-to-border broadband internet access to all Minnesotans by 2026. Murphy’s plan will use the new sales tax revenue generated by the Supreme Court’s decision allowing Minnesota to collect sales tax from select out of state online retailers to provide a dedicated investment of more than $100 million each year into Minnesota’s Broadband Development Grant Program. The plan leverages additional private investments to connect Minnesota families, farmers, business owners, and schools to high-speed internet to further growth and opportunity.

“For too long, we have talked about the importance of broadband at the Capitol without the investment needed to address the scope of the challenge,” said Murphy. “When I am Governor, we will move forward with a strategic plan that will connect every Minnesotan with the high-speed internet they need to succeed.”

A broad coalition of government and private sector leaders have acknowledged the great need to invest in broadband internet, but funding has come up woefully short in recent years. Murphy’s plan would provide a dedicated source of revenue to meet the challenge facing Minnesotans.

Murphy will pay for her plan by using new revenue generated by the Supreme Court’s South Dakota v. Wayfair decision, which provided new revenue for the state of Minnesota by compelling out-of-state retailers with no physical presence in Minnesota to collect and remit sales tax on purchases delivered to Minnesota. The United States Government Accountability Office estimates this sales tax will raise between $132 – $206 million per year. Murphy said utilizing this new revenue to expand online access is a strategic path to ensure every Minnesotan has access to high-speed Internet.

Currently, 550,000 households, more than 26 percent across the state, lack access to high-speed internet. Largely in greater Minnesota, this lack of connectivity causes significant barriers for our students, farmers, and small business owners. Murphy’s plan is based on the statutory internet speed goals of 100 Mbps down and 20 Mbps up by 2026. This baseline will allow small business owners to keep up with the speed of business, students to complete their homework online without interruptions, and will ensure global connectivity for all Minnesotans.

Universal access to broadband spurs innovation and drives economic development, education, healthcare and quality of life. One study indicates that a community will see a $10 return on investment for every $1 invested in broadband.

“This is a once-in-a-generation opportunity to make progress on an issue holding back too many Minnesotans in communities all over the state,” said Murphy. “It’s a critical step in ensuring that everyone in Minnesota can build a bright future for themselves and their families.”

Minnesota model is one where the State supports local involvement is broadband deployment

Posted on by
Reply

The Hill reports on opposite views of the Community Broadband Act…

Lawmakers on Tuesday sparred over ways to bring more investment to rural broadband services.

The House Energy and Commerce Subcommittee on Communications and Technology heard from experts on the problems with building out rural broadband.

Rep. Marsha Blackburn (R-Tenn.), the subpanel’s chair, said government needed to complement private investment not compete against it.

Lawmakers on Tuesday sparred over ways to bring more investment to rural broadband services.

The House Energy and Commerce Subcommittee on Communications and Technology heard from experts on the problems with building out rural broadband.

Rep. Marsha Blackburn (R-Tenn.), the subpanel’s chair, said government needed to complement private investment not compete against it.

The discussion helps me appreciate the Minnesota Model as administered by the Office of Broadband Development. Yes, it wasn’t funded for next year due to circumstances unrelated to broadband or the program. BUT the pieces are there for State funding to support local broadband through the grants. Local may mean partnering with a national provider (such as Sunrise Township) or a local cooperative (such as West Central Telephone). Allowing for projects to brew from the grassroots opens the doors to many solutions. And each community needs something different. As the saying goes – if you’ve been to one small town in Minnesota, you’ve been to one small town in MN.

Can broadband ring in a rural renaissance? If not, why not? #Rural2pt0

Posted on by
Reply

Spirit of full disclosure – I think Roberto Gallardo is inspiring. He spoke at the Minnesota Broadband conference last fall. I love the idea of the digital era making way for a rural renaissance. So I wanted to share a piece of work he did recently (but recommend you check out the whole article), which was reprinted in the Daily Yonder and I wanted to invite folks to start using the hashtag #Rural2pt0 when you share something that feels like rural renaissance in action…

You see, the digital age and its applications has the potential to eliminate density and geographic proximity requirements, that were so critical during the industrial age.

It is possible then, in the digital age, for a rural community to maintain its “rural” feel and continue to leverage its natural amenities while taking advantage of what only dense urban areas enjoyed last century. Things like access to funding (crowdfunding), worldwide markets (e-commerce), savvy employees (teleworkers) and real-time information; collaboration and innovation (videoconferencing and soon mixed reality); certain level of healthcare (telehealth); and educational opportunities (massive open online courses, online certifications).

So, what is in our way to achieve #Rural2pt0?

For starters, ubiquitous ultra-fast internet connectivity. Just like electricity, internet connectivity needs to be everywhere. Data limits need to go. We have a long way to go before reaching parity regarding broadband infrastructure between urban and rural.

Another thing getting in the way to #Rural2pt0 are digital skills. The vast majority of digital savvy workers are located in urban areas. Investments to improve digital skills in rural are lacking, or very inadequate. This needs to change. A digital literate rural society is a must.

Lastly and the most serious challenge, is that the traditional 20th century mindset still exists in rural communities. A change in mindset, that better understands the implications of the digital age, is a key ingredient for #Rural2pt0. This change in mindset can take place through increasing awareness, be it through spreading the word, education, presentations and/or formal or informal conversations helping rural communities transition to, plan for and prosper in the digital age.

Candidate Brian Abrahamson in Luverne (22A) promotes broadband as a top priority

Posted on by
Reply

The Globe asks candidates to answer broad questions on why they are running for office. When they asked Brian Abrahamson (Rock County), he spoke a lot about broadband…

What would be your top priority if elected?

Health care, broadband/transportation/water infrastructure and legalization of cannabis. I believe that health care is a right, not just a privilege for the wealthy. Currently, farmers and self-employed are paying over $30,000 in premiums, and not really receiving the care they need. We must repair our roads, bridges and water infrastructure. Our communities need safe travels and clean drinking water to keep us healthy. Plus, legalization, regulation and taxation of cannabis will give us much-needed tax revenue for projects that are usually overlooked, like education and infrastructure.

Minnesota Broadband County Ranking for speeds of 25/3 for 2018

Posted on by
Reply

The latest County Broadband Maps are out. I am hoping to start with the annual county profiles soon, where I track where each county is and what’s been happening in terms of broadband expansion, increase use or even just chatter. Today I’m just looking at the county ranking using a table that tracks estimated Availability of Wireline Broadband Service by County in the State of Minnesota – Areas Served by at Least 25 Mbps Download/3 Mbps Upload. So we’re just tracking to the 2022 speed goals, And the data is dated from March, 2018

Highest percentage of population with access to 25/3

  1. Red Lake – 99.99% ranks 1
  2. Rock – 99.93% ranks 2   
  3. Ramsey – 99.84% ranks 3
  4. Swift – 99.64% ranks 4  
  5. Clearwater – 99.58% ranks 5
  6. Beltrami – 99.40 % ranks 6
  7. Stevens – 99.22% ranks 7
  8. Hennepin – 99.18% ranks 8
  9. Big Stone – 98.91% ranks 9           
  10. Anoka – 98.87% ranks 10 

Lac qui Parle, Dodge, Freeborn and Steele fall off the list from 2016. The counties in bold are new to the list.

Lowest percentage of population with access to 25/3

  1. Martin –  56.38% ranks 78
  2. Renville – 55.06% ranks 79
  3. Lincoln – 53.44% ranks 80
  4. Murray – 51.00% ranks 81
  5. Marshall- 50.84% ranks 82
  6. Lake of the Woods- 50.47% ranks 83
  7. Yellow Medicine- 46.91% ranks 84
  8. Aitkin – 45.68% rank 85
  9. Fillmore – 45.02% ranks 86
  10. Pine- 42.84% ranks 87 *

Mille Lacs, Todd, Traverse, Redwood, Norman fall off the list from 2016. The counties in bold are new to the list.

Or you can download the entire list in Excel.

Broadband and housing in Chisago County: broadband touches everything

Posted on by
5

I was just telling someone that broadband is the solution to almost any question. And today while I was reading the Comprehensive Housing Needs Analysis for Chisago County, Minnesota and I was reminder that it’s true.

The report projects housing demand from 2017 through 2030, and provides recommendations on the amount and type of housing that could be built in Chisago County to satisfy demand from current and future residents over the next decade. Lack of internet access was listed as a potential problem to attracting people….

Internet Access. Several interviewees mentioned the lack of broadband Internet and slow Internet speeds across parts of Chisago County. The lack of Internet connections could hinder housing development in the county as Internet access is critical for many households in today’s digital age. Many interviewees mentioned the desire to have a home based business or to be able to telecommute in Chisago County. Without high-speed reliable Internet, many will not consider moving to the county. Studies suggest high speed Internet connection to a home boost property values. We understand Chisago County recently received grant funds to analyze technology trends and to address the issue. Two townships in Chisago County have partnered with CenturyLink and MN Dept. of Employment and Eco-nomic Development Broadband Office to bring fiber to the home.

There’s also a note that lack of online marketing of housing options keeps some of the market closed to people form outside the area…

Point of Contact/Housing Resources/One Stop Shop. Several interviews stressed that housing options for rental housing are exceptionally low in Chisago County. Finding a rental housing unit can be difficult as there are few options to begin with and many buildings have high occupancy rates and are not necessarily marketing. Many of the rental properties throughout the county are smaller and are locally owned and managed and they are not actively marketing on the Internet or social media which is difficult for non-residents to find housing availability. Furthermore, many landlords mentioned there is not a lot of turnover as many tenants stay in the lease for years.

Webinar Archive – Leveraging CAF II Dollars to Bring World-Class Broadband to your Community

Posted on by
Reply

Thanks to all who participated today:

And the description:

Bill Coleman will talk about all you need to know about CAF II and how it effects your community based on his recent report, Impact of CAF II-funded Networks: Lessons from Two Rural Minnesota Exchanges Left Unserved.

Leveraging CAF II Dollars to Bring World-Class Broadband to your Community
Thursday, July 19, 2018 03:00 PM

Continue reading →

Catching up with broadband projects in Aitkin MN: Hotspots that have encouraged private investment in FTTH, landing page, training

Posted on by
Reply

Today we’re in Aitkin talking with people about their broadband projects.  They have been part of a project (IRBC) with the Blandin Foundation and IRRRB focused on increasing use of broadband in the area. I’ll include full notes below – but a couple of highlights…

We learned that when people don’t have broadband, that’s all they want to talk about. The broadband expansions in the area have made a huge difference. This was an area that lacked access so effort has been spent on increasing access with hotspots in the library, buses, for checkout and in community centers. It’s been nice to se private investment follow the interest in the hotspots. There have also been efforts, such as remote training and a landing page that encourage use.

Continue reading →