Monthly Archives: June 2023

eNews: MN Monthly Recap June 2023: $100M for broadband in MN Leg

Posted on by
Reply

Governor signs Ag Bill with $100 million for broadband
Last month, the Minnesota House passed the Ag bill with $100 million for broadband. And The MN Senate passed a bill with $100M for broadband grants. Just a week ago, Gov Walz signed the Ag Bill with $100 million for broadband. While $100 million is great; it’s a far cry from the Governor’s original budget recommendation of $276 million.

MN broadband maps don’t match FCC maps 
The FCC recently released new broadband maps that do not consistently match up with Minnesota maps (created by Connected Nation). Depending on which number you look at the numbers are quite different but too often inconsistent. The question is – how will these maps be used, for how long and will that change how folks get broadband funding?

State News    

Federal/National News

Vendor News

Local Broadband News

Aitkin and Isanti Counties
Paul Bunyan Communications expands to Warba, Marble, Calumet and Waukenabo Township (Aitkin County)

Cook
Cook MN get FTTH from Paul Bunyan Communications

Douglas County
Three providers are seeking Border to Border grants in Douglas County (MN)

Farmington
Farmington is getting FTTH – completion expected in the next two years

Fergus Falls
Fergus Falls Fiber Grant Project breaks ground

Isanti and Kanabec Counties
East Central Energy (ECE) starts fiber construction in Dalbo, Ogilvie, Braham and Pine City (Isanti and Kanabec Counties)

Lincoln County
Turning wind into broadband in Lincoln County, got Lincoln County from ranked 65 to 2

Martin County
Federated REA applied for USDA funding for FTTH in Martin County
Martin County approves two ARPA broadband grants

St Louis County
Wynne Ridge area in White Township gets better broadband with Mediacom (St Louis County)

Wayzata
Comcast bring Gig access to Wayzata MN

White Earth
NTIA Commits Nearly $500,000 in Internet for All Grants to White Earth in MN

Upcoming Events, Opportunities and Resources

Lumen (aka CenturyLink) expands Fiber service in 18 cities including Minneapolis

Posted on by
Reply

Fierce Telecom reports…

Lumen on Monday revealed it expanded its Quantum Fiber availability, which touts gig and multi-gig speeds, in 18 cities.

Service is now available for more consumers in Boise, Idaho, four Florida markets (Cape Coral, Fort Myers, Naples and Orlando), Colorado Spring and Denver, Des Moines, Las Vegas, Minneapolis, Omaha, Nebraska, two Arizona cities (Phoenix and Tucson), Portland, Salt Lake City and three cities in Washington state (Seattle, Spokane and Vancouver).

A Lumen rep told Fierce Quantum Fiber’s 1-gig tier has already been available in these cities, but the operator has turned up service for more homes and businesses and increased multi-gig coverage.

MN broadband maps don’t match FCC maps: so which numbers to use and when and will that change?

Posted on by
Reply

I’ve been looking at the new FCC National Broadband Maps and I’ve been trying to compare them to the latest maps I used for the Minnesota Broadband County Profiles last December (from Connected Nation). The MN maps reflect data from October 2022. The FCC Maps report “Data As Of Dec 31, 2022 (Last Updated: 5/24/23)”. So while there may be some updates, the numbers shouldn’t be too far off.

According to the FCC National Map, here’s how Minnesota stands:

  • Wired Access 25/3: 90.95 percent
  • Wired Access 100/20: 88.27 percent
  • Any fixed broadband 25/3: 100 percent
  • Any fixed broadband 100/20: 95.93

According to the Minnesota Broadband Task Force’s 2022 report (published Jan 2023), here’s how MN stands:

  • Wired access 25/3: 92.03 percent
  • Wired access 100/20: 88.29

The FCC wired numbers are much closer to the Minnesota numbers (which also looks at wired connections) than the fixed broadband numbers but they are different. The question is – which numbers do we use when? And what numbers are we going to be using tomorrow? For some folks, it would be nice to be able to use the more generous numbers and say we’re done. For others, it might be nice to use the lower numbers to get funding but hope goals change after the receive funding. For folks who live in these areas, the numbers don’t matter as much their own ability to get access. One of the problems, as Doug Dawson pointed out in his post yesterday, is that we’re asking the providers to report access, and it’s easy to over-report…

Anybody who is intimately familiar with the FCC maps knows that there is a lot of fiction buried in the reporting. There is one huge flaw in the FCC mapping system that has carried over from the previous FCC mapping regime – ISPs self-report the speeds they can deliver. Per the FCC mapping rules, ISPs can claim broadband marketing speeds rather than some approximation of actual speeds. In every county where I’ve delved deep into the local situation, I’ve found multiple ISPs that are overclaiming broadband speeds.

Doug does a great job going into the details so I won’t, except to include his second flaw in the system…

A second flaw in the FCC maps is the coverage areas claimed by ISPs. The FCC is counting on public broadband challenges or challenges by State Broadband Offices to somehow fix this problem – but that’s an unrealistic hope. Most people don’t know about the FCC maps and the challenge process – and even people who know about it are not motivated to file a challenge about an ISP that claims service at their home that’s not really available. This issue can apply to any technology, but it’s particularly a problem for WISPs and cellular broadband. It’s not easy for a knowledgeable engineer to accurately judge the coverage area of a wireless network from a given tower – I have to think it’s beyond the capability of the folks at a State Broadband Office to understand it enough to challenge coverage. But it doesn’t take any expertise to know that a WISP or a cellular company claiming ubiquitous 100/20 Mbps coverage across large areas is exaggerating both speed and coverage capabilities.

But that gets back to my question – which numbers do we use when? More pointedly, will these maps be used to define eligibility for grants. And will the goal posts change once the funds have been awarded?

I’ve pulled the numbers for each county. The fixed broadband, as you can see, is clearly and consistently higher than wired connection. Comparing the wired numbers from MN and FCC wired number below (the columns that are bold), you can see sometimes the numbers are closer but often they are not. And sometimes the MN numbers are higher; other times they are lower.

County 100/20 Mbps Connected Nation Data 100/20 Mbps National BB Map Fixed 100/20 National BB Map Wired 25/3 National BB Map Wired
Aitkin 60.36 99.74 70 72.96
Anoka 96.64 97.38 97.1 98.28
Becker 78.45 100 81.12 86.69
Beltrami 98.86 100 98.65 98.84
Benton 89.94 83.77 82.47 86.42
Big Stone 97.09 100 99.01 99.01
Blue Earth 81.88 96.05 75.33 86.69
Brown 79.96 95.37 75.97 79.02
Carlton 48.71 74.1 58.55 65.53
Carver 93.2 98.91 93.48 94.33
Cass 56.37 100 57.72 54.32
Chippewa 80.55 100 75.59 84.26
Chisago 73.63 77.31 76.95 79.2
Clay 92.06 100 91.39 93.53
Clearwater 98.85 100 98.5 99.17
Cook 90.95 100 91.75 91.88
Cottonwood 67.02 85.27 61.09 68.03
Crow Wing 87.51 97.6 87.81 91.28
Dakota 96.82 98.52 96.31 96.7
Dodge 84.2 99.84 88.43 89.91
Douglas 74.59 100 77.38 87.46
Faribault 72.68 90.72 61.97 83.56
Fillmore 64.95 85.81 66.36 70.52
Freeborn 86.36 99.26 85.55 86.4
Goodhue 78.56 94.26 82.57 83.55
Grant 77.71 100 77.11 91.9
Hennepin 98.69 99.11 99 99.16
Houston 82.98 82.28 82.16 85.42
Hubbard 90.07 99.99 91.44 92.67
Isanti 50.09 60.21 58.15 69.08
Itasca 85.5 100 89.07 90.01
Jackson 61.98 94.9 62.73 64.12
Kanabec 23.46 49.36 25.87 42.85
Kandiyohi 68.18 94.69 70.18 79.84
Kittson 87.57 100 86.58 86.58
Koochiching 72.3 93.55 74.04 75.77
Lac qui Parle 99.86 100 99.63 99.63
Lake 84.15 98.44 88.31 88.34
Lake of the Woods 74.26 100 73.6 85.31
Le Sueur 74.92 98.49 79.32 81.66
Lincoln 99.99 100 97.82 97.87
Lyon 84.27 100 79.48 80.02
McLeod 75.48 97.25 73.92 80.88
Mahnomen 70.81 100 71.41 78.29
Marshall 82.9 100 81.63 81.93
Martin 67.03 98.1 69.53 74.92
Meeker 72.85 93.22 74.3 77.52
Mille Lacs 66.71 90.63 71.45 76.54
Morrison 77.57 90.83 83.61 85.94
Mower 83.25 98.75 84.93 87.17
Murray 51.38 98.94 53.78 56.38
Nicollet 77.29 91.75 77.65 84.21
Nobles 80.27 96.9 77.36 79.94
Norman 55.52 100 80.46 85.63
Olmsted 94.38 98.93 93.01 94.06
Otter Tail 70.54 100 73.29 82.4
Pennington 99.4 100 98.82 99.2
Pine 35.1 77.03 40.8 48.39
Pipestone 80.7 100 78.98 81.41
Polk 95.24 100 95.99 96.06
Pope 79.15 100 79.82 87.11
Ramsey 99.63 99.51 99.47 99.7
Red Lake 100 100 91.73 100
Redwood 48.35 84.37 63.34 73.05
Renville 70.79 97.68 70.98 72.72
Rice 85.23 95.3 86.3 90.48
Rock 99.9 100 94.99 94.99
Roseau 90.71 100 93.34 94.41
St. Louis 74.89 88.06 73 78.06
Scott 92.04 98.46 94.58 95.6
Sherburne 82.82 88.3 87.65 90.84
Sibley 65.63 94.4 62.88 65.71
Stearns 84.69 90.92 85.22 89.66
Steele 88.28 99.97 88.89 89.56
Stevens 97.08 100 95.97 99.08
Swift 97.5 100 94.96 97.41
Todd 47.52 83.89 53.92 61.66
Traverse 67.5 100 73.91 74.48
Wabasha 71.24 93.44 71.08 75.57
Wadena 98.88 100 99.28 99.3
Waseca 75.12 99.97 75.53 77.4
Washington 93.59 95.3 94.53 96.53
Watonwan 71.06 99.92 67.66 73.75
Wilkin 77.48 99.97 75.65 84.85
Winona 85.62 96.66 85.42 86.59
Wright 78.02 85.23 80.09 85.36
Yellow Medicine 58.17 99.68 57.28 62.21

 

 

 

OPPORTUNITY & EVENT June 27: Gathering Data on Digital Inclusion in Northeast Minnesota

Posted on by
Reply

I’m sharing this with permission from North Span. It’s from an email that went out to their constituents that expressed an interest in broadband…

In the beginning of 2023, the MN Office of Broadband Development(OBD) asked local areas to form Digital Connection Committees(DCC’s), with the intent to gather data on digital equity and inclusion in those communities. Nine of these committees formed in Northeast Minnesota representing four of the seven counties in our region. The information will be used in the development of a statewide digital equity plan to reduce gaps in access, device ownership, and digital skills. 

I am working to ensure that all of our counties and Tribal Nations in our shared geography have the opportunity to provide input into the draft of the Digital Equity Plan even if they did not form a DCC. I have been working with the DCC’s and contacting those without DCC’s to assist in gathering information on digital inclusion from a regional perspective. If you are interested in providing data from your community, I have two options for you to provide input.

  • June 27th meeting of the nine NE MN Digital Connection Committees. I will send a calendar invite and the link is below for this virtual meeting. You are welcome to join us and share insights and hear what is coming out of other communities in our region.
    June 27th @ 12:00PM-1:00PM Link here: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/81549873785?pwd=ZlExTkdnQWM0dTNBMlY1QzV2eGpTUT09
  • Please complete this brief survey, to provide information on your understanding of digital inclusion in your community(s)/Tribal Nation(s).
  • Please feel free to forward this survey and information to anyone who may be interested in providing input. 

Reports on the data are due to the OBD by June 30th and the draft will be provided for our region to review sometime this Summer.

If you are interested in completing a more intensive data gathering in the next few weeks, I would be happy to help with that in any way that I can.  The State has provided a comprehensive survey template and several DCC’s have put the survey into digital format, hosted one-night focus groups, or pared down the template to a 2 or 3 question survey to make it easier to distribute and more accessible.

Let me know if you have any questions and how I can be of assistance!

Digital Inclusion / Minnesota Department of Employment and Economic Development (mn.gov)

General Use Template (mn.gov)

 

EVENT June 26: Affordable Connectivity Program Sign Up Day in Deer River

Posted on by
Reply

From Paul Bunyan Communications, to help get people in Deer River Connected and maybe give a good idea to providers in other areas…

Paul Bunyan Communications, the Leech Lake Band of Ojibwe, Itasca County, and the Itasca Economic Development Corporation (IEDC) are holding a sign-up day for the Affordable Connectivity Program on Monday, June 26 from 11 a.m.-6 p.m. at King Elementary in Deer River as part of the Day of Connections.

This event will provide the opportunity to explore many community resources including free/reduced Internet service through the Affordable Connectivity Program, job opportunities, education, social services, and Leech Lake Tribal IDs with the $15 replacement fee waived for all attendees.  Transportation is available with pick up locations including Spring Lake Community Center, Inger Community Center, and Lone Eagle Center in Ball Club.  For more information on the Day of Connections call 218-328-8352.

The Affordable Connectivity Program will help to lower the cost of broadband service for eligible households struggling to afford internet service and provides a discount of up to a $30 per month toward broadband service for eligible households and up to $75 per month for qualifying households on qualifying Tribal lands.

A household is eligible if one member of the household meets at least one of the criteria below:

  • Has an income that is at or below 200% of the Federal Poverty Guidelines;
  • Participates in certain assistance programs, such as SNAP, Medicaid, Federal Public Housing Assistance, SSI, WIC, or Lifeline;
  • Participates inone of several Tribal specific programs, such as Bureau of Indian Affairs General Assistance, Tribal Head Start (only households meeting the relevant income qualifying standard) Tribal TANF, or Food Distribution Program on Indian Reservations;
  • Is approved to receive benefits under the free and reduced-price school lunch program or the school breakfast program, including through the USDA Community Eligibility Provision;
  • Received a Federal Pell Grant during the current award year; or

Eligible households can enroll at the sign-up event, through a participating broadband provider, or by going to http://www.getinternet.gov to submit an online application or print a mail-in application and contacting their preferred participating broadband provider and selecting a plan.  Additional information about the Emergency Broadband Benefit is available at http://www.getinternet.gov or by calling 877-384-2575 between 9 a.m. and 9 p.m. ET any day of the week.

Paul Bunyan Communications expands to Warba, Marble, Calumet and Waukenabo Township (Aitkin County)

Posted on by
Reply

Aitkin Age reports…

Paul Bunyan Communications will be expanding its all-fiber optic network, the GigaZone, in  2023 to over 2,500 more locations in areas of south Grand Rapids, Warba, Marble, Calumet and Waukenabo Township in  Aitkin County.

“We are excited to continue our efforts to bring gigabit broadband internet to those currently without reliable internet access in  our region. Internet access is no longer a luxury, it is a vital component of everyday life and our cooperative continues to  expand our network to bring this essential access to more homes and businesses right here in northern Minnesota,” said Gary  Johnson, Paul Bunyan Communications CEO/general manager.

Anyone interested in getting connected to the all-fiber optic broadband network should sign up for service now. That can be  done online, over the phone or in person at the Grand Rapids Customer Service and Technology Center. To check to see if a specific location is within an expansion area, visit https://paulbunyan.net/gigazone/availability-map/. Paul Bunyan  Communications will be mailing more information to those within the 2023 plans as construction is about to begin in their  area. Construction will take place over the summer with services expected to be available by winter.

Open board positions at the State of Minnesota

Posted on by
Reply

From the State of MN…

The Office of the Minnesota Secretary of State today released notice of vacancies for various state boards, councils and committees that are accepting applications. Minnesotans are encouraged to apply and serve in demonstration of public service. The newest vacancies are listed below, and the full list of 1,007 vacancies / 606 positions can be found on our website Open Positions.

Here are the positions that might be of interest readers or where an interest in broadband might be helpful…

  • Agriculture Research, Education, Extension, And Technology Transfer Advisory Panel
  • Governor’s Workforce Development Board
  • Minnesota Assistive Technology Advisory Council

National Broadband Maps show MN has better broadband than 2022 County Maps: but that means less federal funding

Posted on by
Reply

A lot of money is riding on the National Broadband Maps, as Mike Conlon reports…

The FCC released an updated National Broadband Map today and I’m ready to share the first version of a state-level analysis. This is the version of the map that will be used by the NTIA to allocate $42.5 billion in the Broadband Equity, Access, and Deployment (BEAD) program.

He looked at how all the states have fared from the first version of the map to the second map. Here’s what he found account Minnesota:

  • Total locations: 2,078,739
  • Unserved: 140,229
  • Underserved: 3.71 percent
  • Served: 89.54 percent
  • This leads to a decline of $110,302,681 in funding.

(Note added June 5 at 1pm: MN numbers are for wired and the FCC are fixed wireless. I misremembered and thought the MN numbers were fixed wireless. I will run these again very soon. Hopefully today!)

But these numbers are very different than what I saw at the end of 2022 for the MN Broadband County profiles. Time has passed since October and without a doubt, some areas are better covered than they were. But for now the best comparison I can make fairly quickly is to compare county broadband status we had (from Connected Nation via Office of Broadband Development) in October 2022 and the numbers we can get today from the National Broadband Map. So we’re not looking for nuance here but anything striking. I plan to dig deeper next week but for now the striking fact is that almost across the board the National Maps just show a lot more served locations.

For example, I know Martin County recently approved funding for better broadband – but that doesn’t explain a bump from 67 percent to 98. Many other counties have similar jumps. For now I’ll just share the info and if you have any info on what would explain a big leap – or info to the contrary, please send it my way!

County 100/20 Mbps Connected Nation Data 100/20 Mbps National BB Map
Aitkin 60.36 99.74
Anoka 96.64 97.38
Becker 78.45 100
Beltrami 98.86 100
Benton 89.94 83.77
Big Stone 97.09 100
Blue Earth 81.88 96.05
Brown 79.96 95.37
Carlton 48.71 74.1
Carver 93.2 98.91
Cass 56.37 100
Chippewa 80.55 100
Chisago 73.63 77.31
Clay 92.06 100
Clearwater 98.85 100
Cook 90.95 100
Cottonwood 67.02 85.27
Crow Wing 87.51 97.6
Dakota 96.82 98.52
Dodge 84.2 99.84
Douglas 74.59 100
Faribault 72.68 90.72
Fillmore 64.95 85.81
Freeborn 86.36 99.26
Goodhue 78.56 94.26
Grant 77.71 100
Hennepin 98.69 99.11
Houston 82.98 82.28
Hubbard 90.07 99.99
Isanti 50.09 60.21
Itasca 85.5 100
Jackson 61.98 94.9
Kanabec 23.46 49.36
Kandiyohi 68.18 94.69
Kittson 87.57 100
Koochiching 72.3 93.55
Lac qui Parle 99.86 100
Lake 84.15 98.44
Lake of the Woods 74.26 100
Le Sueur 74.92 98.49
Lincoln 99.99 100
Lyon 84.27 100
McLeod 75.48 97.25
Mahnomen 70.81 100
Marshall 82.9 100
Martin 67.03 98.1
Meeker 72.85 93.22
Mille Lacs 66.71 90.63
Morrison 77.57 90.83
Mower 83.25 98.75
Murray 51.38 98.94
Nicollet 77.29 91.57
Nobles 80.27 96.9
Norman 55.52 100
Olmsted 94.38 98.93
Otter Tail 70.54 100
Pennington 99.4 100
Pine 35.1 77.03
Pipestone 80.7 100
Polk 95.24 100
Pope 79.15 100
Ramsey 99.63 99.51
Red Lake 100 100
Redwood 48.35 84.37
Renville 70.79 97.68
Rice 85.23 95.3
Rock 99.9 100
Roseau 90.71 100
St. Louis 74.89 88.06
Scott 92.04 98.46
Sherburne 82.82 88.3
Sibley 65.63 94.4
Stearns 84.69 90.92
Steele 88.28 99.97
Stevens 97.08 100
Swift 97.5 100
Todd 47.52 83.89
Traverse 67.5 100
Wabasha 71.24 93.44
Wadena 98.88 100
Waseca 75.12 99.97
Washington 93.59 95.3
Watonwan 71.06 99.92
Wilkin 77.48 99.97
Winona 85.62 96.66
Wright 78.02 85.23
Yellow Medicine 58.17 99.68

 

Wisconsin won’t invest state funding in broadband this year

Posted on by
Reply

Sometimes it is helpful to see what our neighbors are doing. In Wisconsin, they have decided no tot invest in broadband this year, as Wisconsin Public Radio reports…

Republican lawmakers voted Thursday to eliminate Gov. Tony Evers’ proposed $750 million investment in broadband, saying the state would wait for an upcoming influx of federal broadband funding instead.

The move by Republicans on the Legislature’s budget committee would mark the first time in a decade that the Legislature hasn’t set aside funding for broadband expansion.

It comes at a time when the federal government is expected to spend between $700 million and $1.1 billion on broadband expansion in Wisconsin as part of the federal Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act signed by President Joe Biden. The state’s Public Service Commission has estimated the total cost of expanding broadband statewide at about $1.8 billion.

Minnesota chose to invest $100 million, which means we’ll get close to ubiquitous broadband quicker than our neighbors.

CTC saves money and keeps people safe with broadband self installation kits

Posted on by
Reply

According to a press release from Calix, CTC has created a cool self-installation strategy…

Calix, Inc. (NYSE: CALX) announces that Minnesota-based, member-driven cooperative Consolidated Telephone Company (CTC) innovated a groundbreaking self-installation strategy, Broadband in a Box™, that more than doubled subscriber growth. CTC developed and launched the strategy by leveraging the award-winning Revenue EDGE™ on the Calix platform, which includes Calix GigaSpire® BLAST systems, managed services, Calix Marketing Cloud (Marketing Cloud), and Calix Support Cloud (Support Cloud). To further accelerate the success of this strategy, CTC also partnered with Calix Premier Customer Success (Premier Success). Initially driven by the pandemic-era need for contactless support, Broadband in a Box enabled new members to get set up with their CTC Complete Wi-Fi service quickly—without the need for a member services technician to visit their home. The innovative approach proved wildly popular. With 95 percent engagement for Broadband in a Box, CTC accelerated their market expansion into Cherry Township, Minnesota, delivering their services to new homes and businesses in mere days. Annual new subscriber growth rates have jumped from 6.5 percent to nearly 14 percent.

Because Support Cloud enables their team to solve most self-installation issues remotely, CTC immediately lowered operational expense (OPEX), reducing unnecessary truck rolls 50 percent. To ensure they continue to understand and meet their subscribers’ needs, CTC recently worked with Calix Business Insights Services to run a Net Promoter Score℠ (NPS®) survey. The result was an exemplary score of 69, with almost half of CTC “promoters” citing customer support as the primary reason for their glowing ratings.

You can check out the press release for the technical details, but I want to point out that, as I recall, the impetus for innovation was wanting to get people the broadband they needed during a pandemic while keeping both the installers and new customers healthy.

Study shows Minnesotans happy with telehealth – but barrier exist – such as no broadband

Posted on by
Reply

The Minnesota Department of Health reports…

A new study produced by the Minnesota Department of Health (MDH) highlights the potential for telehealth to make care more accessible while providing similar levels of service to traditional, in-person ways of delivering care. Telehealth is the use of electronic or telecommunications technology to access health care remotely. …

The preliminary report’s findings, which focus on Minnesotans with private health insurance coverage, show that the use of telehealth increased significantly during the COVID-19 pandemic. Data also showed that most patients receiving telehealth services were satisfied with their experience. Overall, about 80% of Minnesotans surveyed by MDH during the study period were satisfied with the telehealth services they received, regardless of whether it was a video or audio visit. In addition, the study found telehealth has the potential to increase access to health care by removing barriers like transportation and the need to arrange child care.

There’s a special nod to increased mental health access…

Telehealth’s impact has been particularly strong in expanding access to mental and behavioral health providers. During the first half of 2021, about 60% of all mental and behavioral health services were delivered through telehealth. This finding is especially important for improving access to care for residents of Greater Minnesota, where telehealth has the potential to fill provider coverage gaps that make attaining care especially challenging.

But access to telehealth is not equitable…

The report does note several equity issues to consider with telehealth. For instance, some providers reported challenges in ensuring adequate support for patients whose first language is not English. In addition, while patient satisfaction with telehealth was positive overall, it was somewhat lower for Black, Indigenous and people of color (BIPOC) Minnesotans. Communities that face disproportionate inequities in digital access and affordability, or comfort in using digital technology, face barriers to telehealth access. Still, telehealth provides opportunities to address disparities compared to in-person care, particularly the potential for connecting culturally or linguistically “matched” provider and client pairs without the barrier of physical distance.

EVENT June 7: Building For Digital Equity Event

Posted on by
Reply

An invitation from the Institute for Local Self Reliance…

Our next Building for Digital Equity (B4DE) event is only weeks away. Have you registered yet?

Sponsored by UTOPIA Fiber, the June 7 virtual gathering will feature engaging debates on the hottest topics in broadband: the upcoming release of BEAD funds, the challenges around mapping, updates on efforts to boost enrollment in the Affordable Connectivity Program (ACP), and the looming implications for both urban and rural communities.

Like B4DE in the past, this event, slated to begin at 3 pm ET on June 7, will be cohosted by Pamela Rosales, from the National Digital Inclusion Alliance (NDIA), and our own Christopher Mitchell, Director of ILSR’s Community Broadband Networks Initiative.

Register now for the event here.

As with previous B4DE events, this one will include informative, concise presentations, a series of interactive trivia games, and an introduction to new data tools for those working on the front lines of digital equity. It will all be livestreamed and will be available (and later archived) on Facebook, YouTube, Twitter, and LinkedIn, with live viewer questions answered by the panels.

OPPORTUNITY: Pine County Digital Inclusion Survey

Posted on by
Reply

Here’s an opportunity for folks in Pine County and an idea for other communities as Pine County News reports…

The Pine County Digital Connection Committee is conducting a digital inclusion survey in partnership with the Minnesota Department of Employment & Economic Development’s Office of Broadband Development (OBD), to gather information to inform the digital equity plan that the OBD is preparing as part of the federal Digital Equity Act.

OBD defines digital inclusion as the condition in which all Minnesotans have the option and opportunity to use technology – including internet access – in ways that bring meaning to their daily lives. The feedback and insights provided through this survey will profoundly shape the content of the digital equity plan and play a significant role in determining the state’s future strategies to advance digital inclusion.

The survey can completed online until June 20, 2023 at: https://www.surveymonkey.com/R/T2LG6ZB or scan this QR code with your camera on a smartphone:

Those without access to the internet can complete a paper survey.  Copies of the paper survey are available at the Office of the County Administrator, Pine County Courthouse, 635 Northridge Drive, Suite 200, Pine City.