Bree Maki, director of the Minnesota Office of Broadband Development, presented Governor Walz’s proposed broadband budget to the Minnesota House Agriculture Finance and Policy Committee today (Jan 26). (See handouts.)

Here are their questions:

Q: what does 100/20 mean? Can I zoom with it?
These are faster than original speed goals. They coincide with federal speeds.

Q: But what can you do with it?
One person can Zoom. I have fixed wireless and can work from home even when college kid is home.

Q: What are grant ranges? And how many do you award?
Last year, we distributed $99M in 61 grants. WE have a $5M cap and are piloting a $10M. WE have heard that $5M isn’t enough.

Q: what about mobile vs fiber broadband?
We are technology agnostic. Mobile is catching up; people used hotspots during the pandemic. But fiber is more reliable.