Monthly Archives: October 2018

U.S. Sen. Tina Smith Presses Administration to Quickly Change Tax Rules Blocking Cooperatives From Expanding Rural Broadband

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News from Senator Smith’s office…

Today, U.S. Senator Tina Smith (D-Minn.) urged the Trump Administration to ensure cooperatives don’t lose their tax-exempt status if they receive government grants to expand rural broadband in Minnesota and across the country.

Sen. Smith said that the Republican tax law passed last year threatens the tax-exempt status of rural telephone and electric cooperatives in Minnesota and across the country because of a provision meant to tax for-profit companies. In a letter Wednesday, Sen. Smith pushed Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin and IRS Commissioner Charles Rettig to use their administrative authority to fix the unintended consequences of the provision, which leaves many cooperatives hesitant to accept government broadband expansion grants because of the risk of losing their tax exemption, slowing the deployment of broadband to rural communities. Sen. Smith said she is exploring legislation to simplify and modernize the tax code’s rules for rural electric and telephone cooperatives to address several longstanding requirements that are outdated or burdensome.

“As I have traveled throughout Minnesota, I have heard from rural telephone and electric cooperatives with concerns about how recent changes to the tax code could unintentionally cause cooperatives to lose their tax-exempt status if they receive certain government grants, including FEMA emergency assistance or grants to expand rural broadband,” wrote Sen. Smith. “I am asking you to use your administrative authority, to the extent you are able, to address this issue.

“Cooperatives are important to expanding and providing telecommunications services in rural areas, and for nearly a century, the tax code has recognized these cooperatives as tax-exempt entities if, among other things, at least 85 percent of the cooperative’s income is from members. Unfortunately, last year’s tax law has created uncertainty about whether certain grants that cooperatives regularly receive must be taken into account when determining if a cooperative complies with the member income requirement. This uncertainty has caused cooperatives significant concern and frozen some of their grant applications, as a cooperative may be at risk of losing their tax-exempt status if they accept FEMA emergency assistance, broadband expansion grants, or other government grants, and it is determined that those grants must be treated as non-member income.”

Sen. Smith, a longtime advocate for expanding rural broadband, authored the Community Connect Grant Program Act, which was included as part of the bipartisan Farm Bill that was passed by the Senate earlier this year. The Community Connect program provides grants to support deployment of broadband in rural areas. She has also pressed the Federal Communications Commission to dedicate additional funding to rural broadband and telehealth programs. As Lieutenant Governor, Sen. Smith led efforts to invest in broadband, including supporting millions in funding for the Border-to-Border Broadband Grant program.

You can read a copy of Sen. Smith’s letter here or below: Continue reading →

How to plan for possible federal funding for broadband

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CTC Technology recently posted an article that is a Preliminary Guidance For New USDA Rural Broadband Funding Opportunity…

Earlier this year, Congress made the first major appropriation for broadband infrastructure deployment in a decade. The following is our preliminary high-level analysis and strategic guidance for counties, towns, states, and public utilities regarding that funding—the e-Connectivity Pilot—a U.S Department of Agriculture program that will fund last-mile broadband infrastructure deployment in rural areas.[1]

In short, we anticipate that substantial funding for last-mile rural broadband will be made available early in 2019, and that experienced public ISPs, as well as collaborative public-private efforts, will be well positioned to compete for these funds.

USDA has not yet released the detailed rules for the program, so most of what we know about the e-Connectivity Pilot is very preliminary and based on RUS’s public statements and its track record with other broadband programs.

If you are considering applying for the new funding, the time to prepare is now, in anticipation of an application deadline in early 2019.

I won’t post the whole article, which includes checklists of things to consider, but if you are in a position where you might be seeking federal funding, I highly recommend checking it out.

Olivia MN Is looking to use broadband to make civic, social and economic connections

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I recently read (in the Daily Yonder) that 20 percent of US newspapers have closed in the last 14 years. And almost a third of those papers were rural papers. The article details the results…

“Half of the 3,143 counties in the country now have only one newspaper, usually a small weekly, attempting to cover its various communities,” the report says. “Almost 200 counties in the country have no newspaper at all. The people with the least access to local news are often the most vulnerable – the poorest, least educated and most isolated.”

The study says that counties with no local news publication face special civic challenges as a result. But an official with one small town that lost its paper 10 years ago said they’ve made do, with the government itself playing are larger role in communication.

Funny enough I was then invited to a meeting in Olivia, Minnesota to join my friend and colleague Jane Leonard at Growth and Justice to talk to community leaders about encouraging civic connection and online tools, such as the newspaper. G&J is working on a plan for the future through a process called Thriving by Design. It’s a grassroots, holistic look at what Minnesota needs to do to thrive. They hosted a conference with wide representation last summer to discussion topics that are important to Minnesotans and are continuing to work with that group to create a policy blueprint to bring in the next Governor.

It was at the meeting last summer that Jane made a connection to the folks in Olivia (and her Grandma was born there!).

Olivia is looking for opportunity. The connectivity around Olivia is uneven – as it is in so many communities. People closer to town are pretty well connected; between towns that’s less true. BUT access wasn’t really the topic of the day. What they really wanted to know was what they could do with connectivity to help bring the community closer together, and to continue to be thriving. To get folks to communicate, cooperate, collaborate.

We ended up broadening the topic – we discussed potential state and national models for becoming a rural innovation hub, with broadband-based development strategies. To be clear, Olivia has NOT lost a paper but the paper there is smart enough to see the opportunity to become much more! There’s a chance to use technology to encourage and support a business and social enterprise-minded community with an economy that works with and for all, leveraging the Main Street program and other civic infrastructures for modern community and economic development.

It was a great discussion. It started with the recognition that for rural areas, the age of broadband can be damning or lifesaving. There is an opportunity for those to take it. Broadband should eliminate the barrier of distance and it does for those who have it, who know how to use it, and are looking to innovate.

Assessing the Blandin Broadband Communities with the Mountain of Accountability Framework

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The Blandin Foundation just released an assessment of the Blanidn Broadband Communities (BBC) initiative from January 2017 – June 2018, which is the period of one cohort experiencing the program. This cohort was a little different from past groups in that they were all from the Iron Range: Aitkin County, Chisholm, Ely, Grizzlies (Bois Forte, Cook, Orr), Hibbing and Mountain Iron-Buhl (in St Louis County).

The assessment of the 2017-18 cohort of six Iron Range Blandin Broadband Communities and associated broadband-related activities was written by staff as part of the foundation’s overall efforts to build an assessment system that answers the basic question: “What do we need to know to do better?” The report uses the foundation’s Mountain of Accountability framework to help discern and apply what they are learning.

You can check out the report from specifics and fun stories from each of the communities. Many of not most of the stories have already been shared in the blog, so I won’t repost here. Instead I think it’s interesting to look at their lessons learned. I am lucky to be a part of the broadband team. From inside the team I see how the frontlines, education and advocacy pieces fit in well together; there’s often a disconnect between those facets but when brought together I think they are most powerful…

Some lessons learned from bringing the lens of this Opportunity Statement to our work:

Building upon proven practices: Based on positive community feedback we continue to use an intense community engagement process that brings communities from goal setting to action within about 90 days, and likewise have retained the Intelligent Community Framework14 as a model for helping community leaders think holistically about technology-based economic and community development.

Leveraging Our Reputation and Relationships: We continue to recognize reputation and relationships as two of our program’s most valuable assets. Reputation for attracting additional resources (human, financial) and relationships as the force field that keeps people engaged.

Attracting Additional Passionate Partners: In adding these words to our statement, electric coops were top of mind. However, staff has had only modest success inspiring and supporting electric co-ops to play a bigger role in addressing Minnesota’s broadband needs. In looking ahead to 2019 we will revisit whether further investments in building relationships with electric co-ops is advisable, given limited progress made to date. One factor that argues against standing down, especially in light of the magnitude of the opportunity, is the simple notion of “if not us, who?”

Drive Collaborative Approaches: Where possible, Blandin staff seeks to fill a supporting rather than leading role in the work, understanding that everything we do is one more thing the community is not doing for itself (as in the regional policy meetings, where partners were conveners and hosts, and Blandin provided content expertise and gravitas).

Continue to influence and Inform Statewide Policy and Messaging: This element of the Opportunity Statement is key to Minnesota’s long-term success in meeting its broadband goals. Foundation staff are optimistic that the Minnesota Rural Broadband Coalition will step ever more competently into this role, so that Blandin can be part of the choir, rather than the leading voice.

 

 

 

Letter to the Editor in Grand Rapids supports Tina Smith and her work on broadband

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The Grand Rapids Herald Review posts a letter to the editor in support of Tina Smith for Senate…

As soon as Senator Smith got to the Senate, she launched a statewide listening tour to hear from Minnesota farmers on what their priorities are for the Farm Bill. She took what she heard from those sessions and immediately got to work writing measures in the Senate Farm Bill that expands critical broadband infrastructure to more farms across Minnesota and supports new farmers.

Otter Tail County assesses their broadband future

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The Fergus Falls Journal reports on broadband access in the area…

Fortunately for Otter Tail County, there are people who are paying attention to the issue. [Rep Bud} Nornes said, “For the state, people might be surprised to know that we have invested about half a billion in broadband.” Much of this funding has been from grants, particularly at the local level.

Grant Funding

One of the primary grants that has made an impacted Otter Tail County is the Border-to-Border Broadband Development Grant Program. This program “funds the expansion of broadband service to areas of Minnesota that are unserved or underserved,” according to the Minnesota Office of Broadband Development. In 2017, $20 million in funds included from the Legislature was used for the grant program.

Multiple areas in OTC fell under the requirements of the grant. “There is a large chunk of OTC that is underserved or has no availability of fiber,” Wayne Johnson, chair of the OTC Board of Commissioners said. After conducting a broadband feasibility study, it was determined that $380 million would be needed to reach all of OTC with proper internet. It became clear that utilizing grants, such as the Border-to-Border program would be necessary.

Over the past three years, multiple areas of OTC have benefited from the grant program. These areas include Pelican Rapids, Fergus Falls, Battle Lake, Wadena and other surrounding areas. A number of telecommunication businesses in the county received the grants such as Otter Tail Telcom LLC and Arvig.

Local Providers

Two of the largest contributors in getting internet access to OTC, also known as “bringing fiber to the door,” are Park Region/Otter Tail Telcom LLC and Arvig. “Arvig and Park Region Otter Tail Telcom have been awesome,” Johnson said. “Both of them have been outstanding to work with on this.”

Companies who provide broadband typically work within areas called exchanges. “Exchanges are essentially who historically has received some type of subsidy for providing telephone or other telecommunication services,” Nicholas Leonard, director of Tourism and Economic Development for OTC, said. However, “Just because it is somebody’s exchange doesn’t mean that somebody else can’t provide service there,” Leonard said.

Arvig

Arvig’s marketing director, Lisa Greene, said Arvig has “invested more than $10 million since 2016 in network upgrades and rural expansion projects.” The company provides broadband services to over 70 percent of OTC. Arvig has also received funding from the Alternative-Connect America Cost Model (A-CAM), as well as the Minnesota Broadband Grant.

Houses have more devices in them now. “Our customer research shows an average of seven devices per household, all competing for the available bandwidth,” Green said. “A lot of what we’ve done to date is to accommodate the bandwidth needs of the increasing number of devices per household.”

She added that the perception has also changed in terms of what people are looking for. “People no longer think of having internet service, they think of having WiFi service,” Greene said. Arvig incorporated a managed WiFi solution that assists customers in having, “the right equipment in place throughout the home/business to maximize coverage throughout the building and help them make the most of their connection.”

Park Region/Otter Tail Telcom LLC

Dave Bickett, GM/CEO of Park Region Telephone/Otter Tail Telcom said that the companies are investing $3-3.5 million every year toward bringing fiber to the door. Specifically, “In 2017, Park Region built fiber to the home in our Vining exchange and are currently building the north half of our Ashby exchange,” Bickett said. “Next year Park Region is slated to complete South Ashby. Other sporadic areas also have fiber to the home available today.”

Meanwhile, “Otter Tail Telcom built fiber to the home on Clay Bank Road, South Wall Lake, Northeast Clitherall Lake, and North Fiske Lake in 2017,” Bickett said. “In 2018 we also built fiber to the home to Red Oak Drive.” The work done by Otter Tail Telcom in these areas was funded by the Minnesota Broadband Grant Program. Rothsay has also seen work done by these companies and Bickett said the rural areas of Rothsay have been completed.

Arvig Extending Fiber Network from Forest Lake to Duluth and the Involta Data Center

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Good news from Arvig for people in the path of this upgrade…

Arvig, a Minnesota-based broadband service provider, is extending its fiber network from Forest Lake to Duluth and the Involta Data Center. This project will expand Arvig’s service for commercial businesses in the area, increase wireless backhaul capabilities, and provide better coverage to parts of rural Minnesota.

“The expansion of our fiber network will improve available services to commercial customers in the area,” said David Arvig, Chief Operating Officer at Arvig. “It is our ongoing intent to serve the needs of our rural communities and continue to invest in building the infrastructure businesses need to operate where they want.”

The inclusion of the Involta Data Center brings the total data centers within Arvig’s network to nine and opens additional opportunities for Arvig’s customer base.

The expansion further diversifies the network, providing additional redundancy to the overall Arvig network, enhancing customer protections. This adds more than 200 miles to the network and is scheduled to be completed by the end of the year.

About Arvig
Established in 1950, Arvig is the largest independent telecommunications provider in the state of Minnesota. The company has a 4,500-mile fiber network throughout the state of Minnesota and provides services to telecommunications companies, wireless carriers and to 46,000 internet customers in more than half of Minnesota’s counties. In addition to broadband services, Arvig also provides business phone systems, security, managed IT and a variety of other services. It serves multiple industries and has completed projects for numerous schools, resorts, financial institutions, hospitals and more. For additional information, visit Arvig online at arvigbusiness.com.

DEED Launches Tool to Measure, Report Broadband Access

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From DEED – please check it out, help them get the speeds right across the state!

ST PAUL – The Minnesota Office of Broadband Development, located within the Minnesota Department of Employment and Economic Development (DEED), today launched a new tool that will allow Minnesotans to test, map and report various broadband internet speeds across the state.

CheckSpeedMinnesota.com is a benchmarking tool designed to gather information about the high-speed internet consumer experience in Minnesota. By answering a few questions and running a speed test, the input captured will help create a better overall picture of broadband in the state.

“The Minnesota Office of Broadband Development is charged by law with measuring and monitoring broadband internet access levels throughout the state,” said DEED Commissioner Shawntera Hardy. “This tool will increase our understanding of the consumer experience to ensure we are making smart investments. We urge the public to report on the type and speed of internet they are buying for their homes and businesses.”

“As high-speed internet service plays an increasingly important role in all aspects of maintaining economically and socially healthy communities, CheckSpeedMinnesota.com can help identify where the state has robust and competitive service available and also areas where consumers believe more attention may be required to meet the needs of Minnesota both today and into the future,” said Danna MacKenzie, executive director of the Office of Broadband Development.

The maps generated by the tool will be displayed for the public as well as incorporated into information that is provided annually to the governor and legislature.

All internet speed test results vary due to factors including time of day, number of devices connected and bandwidth consumed during a test. These factors will be taken into consideration when analyzing results.

DEED is the state’s principal economic development agency, promoting business recruitment, expansion and retention, workforce development, international trade and community development. For more details about the agency and its services, visit the DEED website or follow us on Twitter .

ISSA Team of Bemidji Wins 2018 GigaZone Gaming Championship

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I love this event!

Over 3,500 attended the 3rd annual GigaZone Gaming Championship on Saturday, October 20 at the Sanford Center George W. Neilson Convention Center. The event featured free gaming on various console and arcade games, numerous tournaments, virtual reality, door prizes, and more.

This one of a kind regional gaming event showcases Paul Bunyan Communications’ IT and web development team which custom built and integrated much of the online technology and leverages the speed of the GigaZone one of the largest rural all-fiber optic Gigabit networks in the country. The entire event was run off a single residential GigaZone Internet connection.

ISSA Team from Bemidji won the 3rd annual GigaZone Gaming Championship and $1,500 defeating the Iron Range Legends who won $900 for second place.  The Shinob Squad took third place and $450.  A total of 32 of northern Minnesota’s best Overwatch teams competed on the esports stadium style stage in the GigaZone Championship Arena.

In addition to the Overwatch Community 3v3 Tournament, there was several other open tournaments including Fortnite, Rocket League, Mario Kart 8, Madden 19, Super Smash Bros. (4), Super Smash Bros. Melee, Magic the Gathering Booster Drafts, Tron, Bust A Move, Galaga, and Asteroids.  Admission was free and there were a lot of door prizes given away including grand prize winners Michael Railsback of Bemidji who won an Xbox One X and Jesse Waldo of Detroit Lakes who won a PS4 Pro.

“There is a large gaming community in our area and GigaZone Gaming Championship not only showcases some of the region’s best gamers but it gives everyone a chance to get in on the action!  It was awesome to see so many people from right here and all over come together!” said Gary Johnson, Paul Bunyan Communications CEO/General Manager

“Our cooperative continues to expand one of the largest rural fiber gigabit networks in the country and that brings many advantages to our members.  The GigaZone provides extreme speed and low latency which are critical for the best online gaming experience and the GigaZone Gaming Championship showcases just that,” added Leo Anderson, Paul Bunyan Communications Digital Services Supervisor.

“There is no other gaming event like it anywhere I’ve seen. It’s unique to our area and we are very proud of our team for making it happen. We’re already looking forward to next year.” added Brian Bissonette, Paul Bunyan Communications Marketing Supervisor.

This Paul Bunyan Communications event includes the talents of many local partners including NLFX, Accidently Cool Games, Northern Amusement, the Sanford Center as well support from several regional and national partners.

For more information on the GigaZone Gaming Championship visit www.gigazonegaming.com

Paul Bunyan Communications has the region’s largest and fastest all fiber optic network with over 5,100 square miles throughout most of Beltrami County and portions of Cass, Hubbard, Itasca, Koochiching, and St. Louis Counties. The Cooperative provides Broadband High Speed Internet Services including the GigaZone, digital and high definition television services, digital voice services, Residential and Business IT services, and is also northern Minnesota’s certified Apple Service Center.

Closing Reflections #MNBroadband Conference

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And a link to each of the sessions:

Visit the Conference page on the Blandin Foundation website for the program and agenda.

Provider Response to Community Charrettes

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Moderated by Bill Coleman, Community Technology Advisors

  • Joe Buttweiler, CTC
  • Bill Eckles, BEVCOMM
  • Steve Howard, Paul Bunyan Communications

The panel reacts to the presentations from the communities that participated in the charrettes.

Community Broadband Feasibility Charrette Presentations #MNBroadband Conference

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Koochiching, Le Sueur, and Waseca county teams will present what they’ve learned about options for broadband deployment in their communities.
Provider Respondent Panel Prospective partner telecom providers share their reactions to the work done by the charrette communities including tips for next steps, additional information required and key considerations for successful partnerships.

 

Get to Know the Minnesota Rural Broadband Coalition #MNBroadband Conference

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Learn why you want to become a member of and actively participate in the Minnesota Rural Broadband Coalition. Coalition leaders will provide an update on the coalition’s past efforts and future strategies for promoting rural broadband deployment.

  • Nancy Hoffman, Chisago County HRA EDA
  • Becky Lourey, Nemadji Research Corp.
  • Vince Robinson, Lincoln County Enterprise Dev Corp
  • Nathan Zacharias, Conservation Strategies

Tools to Track and Build Community Demand #MNBroadband Conference

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Convincing a broadband provider to expand service in or to your area can be tough when the homes are few and far between. We will learn about tools that can help you quantify the interest that’s there and that will help build the business case.

Moderated by Diane Wells, MN Office of Broadband Development

  • Paul Solsrud, Cooperative Network Services
  • Damian Smith, City of Lake Shore

Broadband Advocacy: Creating the Message #MNBroadband Conference

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In this hands-on session, we will go through the process of developing a message that you can use with local community leaders, policymakers and the general public to help them understand the importance of investing in broadband in the local community.

  • Bernadine Joselyn, Blandin Foundation
  • Ann Treacy, Treacy Information Services