Blandin Broadband eNews: Broadband activity throughout Minnesota Monthly Recap

New MN Broadband Tribal Maps
The Office of Broadband Development releases broadband maps for tribal nations in Minnesota. Including percentage coverage at speeds of 25/3 and 100/20. https://wp.me/p3if7-4Y7

Broadband policy – local, state or federal?
There are several bills including net neutrality, funding, robocalling https://wp.me/p3if7-4Xs and Voice over IP https://wp.me/p3if7-4X7 that are being discussed at local, state and federal; the question is who is responsible and how can the different levels of government work together? https://wp.me/p3if7-4XN

On the Minnesota policy front…

• IMPACT 20/20 promotes $70 million for better broadband in MN https://wp.me/p3if7-4Y2
• SF1507: Creating a pilot project for areas unserved with broadband is introduced on Feb 21 https://wp.me/p3if7-4Y4
• Rep Poppe talks about Minnesota broadband grants in Gov Walz’s budget https://wp.me/p3if7-4XY
• MN Senate Committee keeps broadband bills for possible inclusion in omnibus https://wp.me/p3if7-4XV
• SF93: Help America Vote Act and cyber security holds info session MN Senate meeting https://wp.me/p3if7-4XT
• Budgets for MN Dep of Employment & Economic Development and Dep of Commerce are presented https://wp.me/p3if7-4XP
• Senator Rarick supports broadband funding https://wp.me/p3if7-4XA – https://wp.me/p3if7-4WU
• Spending on rural broadband likely to bipartisan support in MN budget https://wp.me/p3if7-4Xy
• Legislator remarks, “a lack of broadband in rural Minnesota is really creating achievement gaps” https://wp.me/p3if7-4Xq
• Rural Broadband Coalition applauds Gov. Tim Walz’s Proposed $70 Million for Border-to-Border Broadband Grant Program https://wp.me/p3if7-4Xj
• Overview of the Border-to-Border Broadband Grant presented for MN House Committee on Feb 20 https://wp.me/p3if7-4Xl
• Gov Walz budget includes $70 million in his state budget for broadband https://wp.me/p3if7-4X9
• Rep Kresha introduces HF1137 with $100 million for broadband funding https://wp.me/p3if7-4X5
• Minnesota version of Net Neutrality is introduced (HF136) at Legislature https://wp.me/p3if7-4WS
• NTIA Partners with MN and 7 other states on improvements to Broadband Map https://wp.me/p3if7-4WL
• Senator Westrom calls broadband essential to our way of life https://wp.me/p3if7-4WH

And national policy front…

• How much broadband does $100 million of federal funding buy in MN? https://wp.me/p3if7-4Yd
• Senator Smith asks Senate Agriculture Committee to prioritize rural broadband https://wp.me/p3if7-4Yb
• If farmers need better broadband for precision ag, the Minnesota model could help https://wp.me/p3if7-4Y0
• FCC pledges more funding for rural broadband deployment https://wp.me/p3if7-4XR
• Senator Klobuchar and others express concern with FCC’s Broadband Coverage Maps https://wp.me/p3if7-4Xf
• FCC says the digital divide is narrowing – but is it getting deeper? https://wp.me/p3if7-4Xb
• White House report looks at how the Federal Government can increase broadband access https://wp.me/p3if7-4WZ
• Politico looks at Senator Klobuchar’s take on various broadband issues now that she’s running for President https://wp.me/p3if7-4WJ
• Broadband access vs broadband use: what does the FCC look at? https://wp.me/p3if7-4WC
• USDA Launches High-Speed Broadband e-Connectivity Resource Guide https://wp.me/p3if7-4Wq
• Proposal for a rural broadband office at the FCC is introduced https://wp.me/p3if7-4X3

Vendor News…

• AT&T to make 5G a reality in at least 21 major cities this year, including Minneapolis https://wp.me/p3if7-4WQ

Local Broadband News

Dakota County
Dakota Broadband Board seeks an Executive Director https://wp.me/p3if7-4Wn

Fish Lake
MN State-supported broadband project is completed in Fish Lake on Feb. 18 https://wp.me/p3if7-4Xh

Le Sueur County
Le Sueur County moves forward with broadband plan – starting with feasibility report supported by Blandin Foundation https://wp.me/p3if7-4Ws

Otter Tail
Otter Tail County officials talk to legislators about broadband and other priorities https://wp.me/p3if7-4XJ

Robbinsdale
Digital Days replacing snow days at schools is a mixed blessing https://wp.me/p3if7-4XL

Rochester
Rochester City Council approves new broadband provider, Metronet https://wp.me/p3if7-4Wl

Rock County
PCs for People distributes 53 computers in Rock County https://wp.me/p3if7-4Xo

Wilkin County
Sen Westrom talks about broadband for Wilkin County https://wp.me/p3if7-4Xd

Willmar
Willmar telemedicine program keeps heart patients closer to home https://wp.me/p3if7-4Xv

Upcoming Events and Opportunities

• April 1-3: Net Inclusion 2019 in Charlotte https://wp.me/p3if7-4UP
• April 3: MN Broadband Coalition Day on the Hill https://wp.me/p3if7-4XH
• Sep 30, 2019: Deadline for RUS Broadband Program applications https://wp.me/p3if7-4RF
• State looking for new Technology Advisory Committee Member https://wp.me/p3if7-4Wd

We are looking to add MN broadband-related events to the Blandin on Broadband blog calendar. https://wp.me/P3if7-4yG If you have an event you’d like to add please send it to atreacy@treacyinfo.com

Stirring the Pot – by Bill Coleman

What’s a suburban guy to do?

This morning I received a call from a Dakota County resident near Lakeville.  He sought me out in response a Strib broadband article.  I could feel his frustration right through with his 4 Mb DSL connection. He purchased his home with the expectation of working from home.  The reality is that his home service is both too slow and too unreliable for telework so he is forced into a long commute.

He has called his telephone company, talked to their techs on the roadside, called other nearby providers requesting service, complained to his county commissioner and county staff, strategized with his neighbors – all to no effect.  As I gave him some advice about possible next steps, he noted that with his twelve hour work and commute day, there was little time left for broadband organizing.  The ironic part of this story is that he moved to Lakeville from Nobles County where Lismore Telephone Cooperative provided fiber optic broadband services to his family farm.

I would love to have a numbers savvy analyst compute the lost value to Minnesotans who suffer from bad or no broadband.  MN DOT computes a lost time value from sitting in traffic; the methodology could be similar.  In this Lakeville resident example, a 50 mile round trip commute times 200 work days equals 10,000 miles at $.55 per mile, or $5500.  If you assign a $20 value per hour commute times two hours per day, that is an additional $8,000 per year, for a total of $13,500 per year.  Multiply this for thousands of Minnesotans, plus the many other assorted direct costs and missed opportunities.  My desk calculator does not have enough zeroes!