The Office of Broadband Development posts their 2023 Annual Report. The report gives updates on activities of the OBD, the grants they administer, steps taken for federal funding and more. They list the year’s highlights:

• The National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) announced Minnesota’s BEAD allocation to be $651,839,368.00
• MN Legislature approved an additional $50M each year – FY24 and FY25 for broadband infrastructure
• MN Legislature made the Lower Population Density Program permanent (was a pilot program in 2022)
• MN Legislature increased the cap on individual grant award amounts for traditional Border-to-Border to
  $10M
• Connecting One Minnesota: Internet for All Kick-off event in January
• Attended 14 regional Minnesota Association of Townships Trainings
• Held 17 regional and 2 virtual Digital Opportunity Listening Sessions
• Held 8 Tribal Consultations
• Submitted Five-year Action Plan to NTIA
• Submitted a Digital Opportunity Plan to NTIA
• Grant Round 9 Webinar for Border-to-Border and Low Density Broadband Development grant programs
• Submitted Broadband Equity, Access, and Deployment (BEAD) Initial Proposal Volume 1 and 2 to NTIA
• Certified 2 Telecommuter Forward! Communities
• Updated broadband availability maps in October 5 Office of Broadband Development Annual Report 2023
• Provided broadband availability analysis to over 400 constituents (113 emails and 360 phone calls)
• Participated in state and national meetings and conferences to continue to learn about and/or promote the broadband resources available from state and federal sources
• Met with local groups to provide technical assistance on broadband issues, including the state grant program
• Engaged Minnesota Congressional staff and federal agencies in work to maximize impacts of federal broadband programs in Minnesota
• Provided administrative support to the Governor’s Task Force on Broadband
• Provided technical and programmatic information to policy makers on broadband discussions throughout the 2023 legislative session
• Updated the broadband availability by township and by county maps to continue to engage township supervisors and county commissioners in discussion of how to improve broadband availability to their residents
• Updated the broadband availability by school district map to continue to document the homework gap in Minnesota

And here are the next steps and recommendations…

This year, we announced a total of $36,907,763 in Border-to-Border grant projects, $29,961,246 in Lower Population Density grant projects and $4,395,257 in Line Extension Connection projects. Local matches totaled $73,725,747. These grants funded the connection of 13,979 locations.
The 2023 Legislature appropriated $50 million for each of FY 2024 and FY 2025. The FY 2024 State General Revenue Funds of $50 million will fund the ninth grant round. Plans for distribution of the FY 2025 funding are still being developed. Subsequent grant rounds are anticipated to be funded with approximately $652 million in federal Broadband Equity, Access, and Deployment Funds (BEAD).
In 2024, in addition to concluding the grant round (Round 9) that opened in December 2023, the Office will be working to ensure it meets all requirements to receive IIJA federal funding for Minnesota’s Broadband Equity, Access and Deployment (BEAD) allocation in the amount of $651,839,368.00 and Digital Equity Act funding through the National Telecommunications and Information Administration. Additional attention will be given to working with Digital Connection Committees throughout the state, applying for the Digital Equity Act (DEA) Capacity Grant funds, then using these funds to begin to implement key activities and strategies identified in the approved version of Minnesota’s Digital Opportunity Plan.
In preparation for the large influx of federal funding, we anticipate our office to grow both in employee size and
capacity to fulfill the broadband needs for all Minnesotans in 2024 and beyond.
The funding for broadband and for digital equity will require engagement by the Office of Broadband Development, The Minnesota Legislature, partners, stakeholders, and various organizations to ensure that the
resources are put to the best and most efficient use to meet the state’s broadband speed goals and fulfill the definition of digital equity and digital inclusion for all Minnesotans