Things to look for:

• OBD will host another BEAD Challenge Information Session online on Monday.
• OBD is hosting weekly office hours Thursdays at 2pm, starting July 18.
• Challenge portal opens Monday.
• Challenge process start July 22.
• Most current volume two will be updated soon.

Worth noting: Residents and businesses can use the State Portal to report challenges. Connected Nation (builders of the portal) are a nonprofit organization an therefore can (and WILL) report those challenges.

Questions or comments of note during the presentation:

• You can challenge fixed wireless but it will be difficult. Cellular on the other hand, is an eligible location unless the provider challenges it.

Volume two:
We’re OK waiting for approval until challenge process shows which locations will be eligible because once volume two is approved the clock starts ticking on getting the grants made.

How many funding cycles will there be?
Hopefully 3 but it will depend on timing of approval of volume two and challenge process matched with Minnesota seasons. First focused on unserved areas. We need to get to all unserved locations before looking at underserved areas. We are hoping to know about current round of Border to Border awards in mid-August.

What is a census group?
Defined by the census.

Important mapping layers to consider: ineligible, served, unserved – underserved to a lesser degree

New FCC labels – if your address has a label and shows you as eligible, you can use it.

Will OBD be surveying providers? With questions such as – do you plan to apply for BEAD?
Looking into it – but not certain.

Connection Nation will be able to process and submit challenges from individual locations or businesses.

A frustration in the process is that the onus is on the resident/business to call out connections that aren’t available. And a part of that process is showing indication from the provider (to the customer) that they can’t offer service at that address. That might require the resident to order, pay installation and not receive the service. Or you need to subscribe to their service and pay for the service you want, take the speed test multiple times and then report.

The current maps are created using FCC data as reported

The challenge map will use the December 2023 fabric but the June 11 reported availability. The plan to build date is December 31, 2024. The plan is to check to see if anything has been built. The hiccup is that the feds are saying you can’t put a new address onto the map after the fact.