Oct 8-10 – MN Fall BB Conference – Innovation: Putting Broadband to Work
This three-day conference at the beautiful Grand View Lodge in Nisswa, MN will offer learning and engagement on many aspects of the challenges and benefits of broadband access and use, from “Pursuing Broadband 101,” to digital inclusion tools and strategies for diverse audiences. https://wp.me/p3if7-52i

2019 MN Tribal Nation Broadband Profiles
Using data and mapping from the Office of Broadband Development, we have profiled broadband situation in reservations in MN:

• Bois Forte Reservation https://wp.me/p3if7-54I
• Fond du Lac Reservation https://wp.me/p3if7-54K
• Grand Portage Reservation https://wp.me/p3if7-54M
• Leech Lake Reservation https://wp.me/p3if7-54O
• Lower Sioux Indian Community https://wp.me/p3if7-54Q
• Mille Lacs Reservation https://wp.me/p3if7-54S
• Prairie Island Indian Community https://wp.me/p3if7-54U
• Red Lake Reservation https://wp.me/p3if7-54W
• Shakopee Mdewakanton Sioux Community https://wp.me/p3if7-54Y
• Upper Sioux Community https://wp.me/p3if7-550
• White Earth Reservation https://wp.me/p3if7-552

On the Minnesota policy front…

• John Persell says “Broadband will create new jobs” https://wp.me/p3if7-55L
• Minnesota Chamber of Commerce thinks broadband is good session outcome https://wp.me/p3if7-55H & https://wp.me/p3if7-542
• Senator Sparks talks up $40 million for MN broadband grants https://wp.me/p3if7-55F
• Rep Ecklund is proud of expanding investment in broadband https://wp.me/p3if7-55u
• U of M rural-urban expert notes broadband funding as a statewide win https://wp.me/p3if7-55m
• Special Sessions ends with $40 million going to broadband https://wp.me/p3if7-55a
• MN Senate Republican Caucus highlights investment in broadband https://wp.me/p3if7-54s
• The Ag, Rural Dev and Housing Omnibus promotes $40M for broadband https://wp.me/p3if7-54q
• Local media take on proposed bipartisan state budget for broadband and special session https://wp.me/p3if7-54h
• Next Century Cities highlights MN Grant Program https://wp.me/p3if7-54b
• MN House, Senate and Governor Walz agree to a spending deal https://wp.me/p3if7-549
• Wilkin County Commissioner wants $70 million for MN Broadband https://wp.me/p3if7-540
• Aitkin County Commissioner wants better broadband https://wp.me/p3if7-53Y
• MN Rural Counties tells MN policymakers to fund the MN Broadband Grants now https://wp.me/p3if7-53W
• Land O’Lakes tells legislators that Minnesota need better broadband https://wp.me/p3if7-53Q
• Duluth News Tribune says rural MN needs broadband to do homework and build small business https://wp.me/p3if7-53O
• Gov Walz talks about budget and priorities, including broadband https://wp.me/p3if7-53L
• Kandiyohi Commissioner asks Minnesotans to ask for more for Broadband https://wp.me/p3if7-53H
• AgriNews says “[MN] budget bill gives priority to value-added agriculture opportunities … rural broadband expansion” https://wp.me/p3if7-53v
• FCC’s Pai says FCC Will Keep an Eye on Frontier https://wp.me/p3if7-53r
• Range Association of Municipalities and Schools says Broadband must be a priority https://wp.me/p3if7-53n
• TelecommuterForward! Legislation is signed into Law May 3 https://wp.me/p3if7-53e

And national policy front…

• MinnPost looks at state and federal broadband policies and potential funding https://wp.me/p3if7-55J
• Small Business and Broadband Congressional Field Hearing is held in Scandia https://wp.me/p3if7-55y
• Congressmen Peterson and Mullin introduce bill to expand rural access to broadband https://wp.me/p3if7-54u
• Bipartisan act is introduced: Rural Reasonable and Comparable Wireless Access Act of 2019 https://wp.me/p3if7-54o
• Bills to improve federal broadband maps are introduced https://wp.me/p3if7-54j
• House Majority Whip James E. Clyburn launches Task Force on Rural Broadband https://wp.me/p3if7-547
• Bipartisan Bills introduced to correct Tax law hindering Rural Co-op Broadband is led by Sen Tina Smith https://wp.me/p3if7-53B
• Pew Center reports that better rural broadband could mean $47–$65 billion annually in additional gross benefit https://wp.me/p3if7-538

Local Broadband News

Aitkin County
Aitkin County finds better broadband would boost economic growth https://wp.me/p3if7-53F

Crow Wing County
CTC to extend fiber to reach man in Crow Wing County https://wp.me/p3if7-53j

Douglas County
Runestone Telecom Association brings fiber to area around Lake Andrew, while customers of CenturyLink near Lake Carlos aren’t as lucky. https://wp.me/p3if7-53D

MN State Fair
gpTRAC demonstrates Teledermatology at the Minnesota State Fair (video) https://wp.me/p3if7-53J

Rock County
You can now check out a hotspot from the Rock County library https://wp.me/p3if7-53p

Todd County
CTC starts building better broadband to parts of Todd County https://wp.me/p3if7-55c

Upcoming Events and Opportunities

• June 5: Apply for MN Broadband Task Force in June 5 https://wp.me/p3if7-55z
• June 3: Tekne Applications are open https://wp.me/p3if7-54m
• June 10-14: Intelligent Community Forum (NY) https://wp.me/p3if7-51B
• Sep 30, 2019: Deadline for RUS Broadband Program applications https://wp.me/p3if7-4RF
• Sep 23-24: Internet2 Third National Research Platform Workshop https://wp.me/p3if7-55s
• Oct 8-10: Innovation: Putting Broadband to Work (Nisswa, MN) https://wp.me/p3if7-52i
• T-Mobile has 18% discount for nonprofit orgs to serve their clients https://wp.me/p3if7-53T

Help Wanted

• GIS and Data Visualization Researcher for MuniNetworks https://wp.me/p3if7-55k
• Minneapolis Chief Information Officer https://wp.me/p3if7-55e
• Next Century Cities, Executive Director https://wp.me/p3if7-52O

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

Thanks to the good work of the MN Rural Broadband Coalition and politicians keeping their promises, there is $40 million of funding coming through DEED Office of Broadband Development for grants to be distributed over the two year budget.  As a result, many community leaders are now asking “how do we get some of that?”

For most communities, there is a lot of work to do between asking that simple question and receiving a broadband grant.  That work starts with these hard questions:

1. What infrastructure will deliver the broadband services that we will require to thrive over the next 10 to 20 years?
2. Will we be content to incrementally improve broadband services with better, but not great, broadband speeds and more, but not ubiquitous, broadband coverage?
3. Who do we want as a long term broadband partner?

There will be strong opinions on these questions but you must develop your community’s own answers to these critical questions.   By working hard upfront on your community’s broadband vision,  you can avoid being whipsawed back and forth between various technology and provider options.

Blandin Foundation has two resources to assist communities as they pursue better broadband service.  First, 32 hours of technical assistance can be obtained through the Community Broadband Resources (CBR) program. The purpose of this program is to help your community get organized and education and to discuss the three questions above.

The second program is the Robust Network Feasibility Fund program which is a grant of up to $25,000 (1:1 cash match required) that allows communities to refine their options for the development of broadband project and partner alternatives.

Information for both programs can be found at broadband.blandinfoundation.org . There is no application deadline for CBR; the next deadline for feasibility fund grants is June 14.

In my experience, communities that skip or shortchange the discussion facilitated through CBR are unprepared to effectively direct their feasibility study consultants towards a desired outcome.  The result is an ambiguous study and a fractured community vision.  My advice: do the vision work up front and then pursue that vision with fierce determination.  Good luck!