Le Sueur County does a great job getting the word out about broadband. Tonight they hosted a Broadband Fair with folks from the Attorney General’s, from Office of Broadband Development and several providers including NetWave Broadband, Bevcomm, Xtream (Mediacom) and Xtratyme. Approximately two dozen people were there while I was there. Most were coming in to see if they could get better service. The options in the room were fiber and fixed wireless.

It’s as fun to hear the questions as the answers. I overheard someone mention that they have dialup. Can you imagine how long the pandemic shutdown must have felt to them?! Providers talked about expansion based on upcoming grant announcements and gauging interest in new areas. This is an area that was impacted by LTD Broadband’s RDOF situation. So you hear their name comes up.

It’s also fun to hear about the very practical questions. Can we pause our connection in the winter when we’re in Florida? How fast can we get it installed? How can I convince you to come to my area? One interesting answer to that question was hearing a provider encourage attendees to apply for the line extension grant as a way to help fund a new connection.