The Voice of Alexandria reports…

An educator at the University of Minnesota-Duluth says expanding broadband internet service to rural areas is very expensive.  Assistant professor of computer science Peter Peterson says the state and federal funding must keep coming.  Peterson says D-S-L, cable internet, and fiber are all delivered by wires that someone has to bury.  He says the cost “on the low end” is about 18-thousand dollars a mile.  Peterson says he hopes government subsidies and incentives will keep the work going, but it is going to take some time.

I’m not sure the State wants to fund burying DSL lines or that $18,000/mile is the low end of broadband deployment – but the general consensus that Minnesota needs continued funding makes sense. And I think it’s helpful to see what’s being said in mainstream media.