The Willmar City Council on Monday in split votes approved two proposals totaling up to $40,000 to assist the Broadband Committee and city staff in efforts to market and brand the Connect Willmar initiative.
The Connect Willmar initiative is an effort by the city of Willmar to install a citywide fiber optic broadband communications network throughout the city on which various internet service providers can provide their services to Willmar residents.
The city has partnered with Hometown Fiber to manage and maintain the network, and the marketing proposal in the amount of up to $30,000 was from Hometown Fiber, a Minnetonka-based broadband consultant. The marketing proposal passed in a split 7-1 vote, with Councilor Rick Fagerlie voting no.
The second proposal for branding the Connect Willmar initiative for $10,000 was from Replace, a Minneapolis firmwhich recently assisted the city of Willmar in its rebranding efforts. It was approved in a split 6-2 vote, with Fagerlie and Councilor Butterfield voting no.
West Central Tribune also reports…
Planning for the Connect Willmar initiative hit a bit of a snafu when it was discovered that contracted city engineer Bolton & Menk was working on the civil engineering portion of the project without formal authorization by the Willmar City Council. …
The City Council approved an agreement with Hometown Fiber at its Aug. 5 meeting to manage the network.
The council was also asked at that meeting to approve a service agreement with Bolton & Menk for the civil engineering services in an amount not to exceed $403,000.
However, after learning that Bolton & Menk had already started the civil engineering work without formal authorization, the council tabled that agreement until its next meeting — which took place Monday night.
The council on Monday approved paying for the portion of services already incurred in the amount of $155,068, but failed to approve the full service agreement. …
The council is expected to revisit the service agreement with Bolton & Menk at an upcoming meeting.
As can be deduced by the lengthy title, the scientists have uncovered a new risk coming from the reentry of low-orbit satellites through the atmosphere. Scientists at the University of Southern California Department of Astronautical Engineering are reporting the increased risk to the ozone layer by the upcoming massive increase in the number of satellites that will be returning to earth each year.
Low-orbit satellites contain a lot of aluminum, and when a satellite falls to Earth it creates aluminum oxide, which results in a chemical reaction that kills ozone. The issue doesn’t just arise at the time that a satellite falls to Earth, because the aluminum oxide particles can linger for up to five years as the particles slowly fall out of orbit.
This is a serious problem…
Depletion of the ozone layer is a serious problem, and a complete destruction of ozone would end most life on the planet since the ozone protects us from cosmic radiation and ultraviolet light coming from the sun. Even a partial depletion means increased skin cancers, cataracts, and damage to marine organisms, plants, and plastics. The planet has come a long way towards stopping depletion of the ozone layer with the Montreal Protocol in 1989 that phased out CFCs and other chemicals that deplete ozone. This treaty resulted in reducing harmful chemicals by 95%. In 2013, scientists predicted that we were a few decades away from the full recovery of the ozone layer.
This issue points out that there are often unintended consequences from any major deployment of a new technology. It’s impossible to deny the huge benefits of low-orbit satellites, and it seems likely that nobody saw this coming. This is obviously an issue that must be addressed, now that the problem has been identified. Perhaps it will be as simple as reducing or eliminating aluminum from low-orbit satellites. But the time to fix this is before there are tens of thousands of satellites in orbit.
Scholars looked at Predictors of Telehealth Use After MN Telehealth Act. They looked at who was using it and how that impacted in-person appointment and the impact of the in-person appointment versus online to patients. The Act extended coverage to telehealth but will be expiring in the next year…
We extend the analysis described in the preliminary report to the Minnesota Legislature for the Minnesota Telehealth Study. We used data from the Minnesota All Payer Claims Database (MN APCD) to examine predictors of telehealth use in 2022 – when health care use returned to pre-pandemic levels – among commercially insured and Medicare Advantage (MA) patients. By focusing on telehealth users or what predicted telehealth use in a period following the implementation of the Minnesota Telehealth Act and after the worst phase of the pandemic, we sought to provide policymakers with critical information on patient subgroups more likely to be affected by future telehealth policies. Also, for patient subgroups predicted to have a higher likelihood of telehealth use, we examined ambulatory care use to better understand telehealth use patterns, for instance, whether the proportion of telehealth visits differed based on potential underlying factors.
Here’s what they found…
In the absence of policies supporting greater audiovisual telehealth use or promoting access to in-person care, limiting access to audio-only telehealth could adversely affect high-need patients more than others. Further research is needed to understand how telehealth use affects outcomes among high-need patients and whether expanded access to telehealth comes at the expense of or enhances patient satisfaction and care quality.
Here’s a factor that speaker to the need for better ubiquitous broadband…
Convenience and widespread access to broadband internet are as important as higher health care need in driving use of telehealth services. If ease of access drives some telehealth use and telehealth is not a perfect substitute for in-person visits, the total number of ambulatory visits is likely to increase with expanded access to telehealth.
Fiber networks offer significant carbon footprint advantages over HFC [Hybrid Fiber Coaxial] networks, from manufacturing of the components, through installation and operation of the network. In the manufacturing of its components, an FTTH PON network reduces carbon footprint by 60% compared to an HFC network, due to lighter cables and fewer active network components. The carbon footprint associated with installation of a fiber network is 7% less than in an HFC network. \Operationally, an FTTH XGS PON network reduces carbon footprint by 93% to 96% versus a comparable DOCSIS 4.0 HFC network, through the elimination or reduction of field powered devices. At the customer premises, an FTTH ONT cable modem reduces carbon footprint by 18% versus a DOCSIS 4.0 cable modem. Overall, this analysis demonstrates that a fiber network is the more sustainable choice for broadband infrastructure deployment than a DOCSIS network.
To evaluate the Carbon Footprint, Return On Investment (ROI) of an HFC to FTTH conversion, consider an FTTH overbuild and 4-year conversion of 500 homes passed (300 homes connected, assuming 60% take rates) HFC network vs. a “Do Nothing” scenario where we continue to operate the HFC network for another 10 years.
The one-time investment to overlay fiber results in an incremental carbon footprint for Year 1.
This incremental carbon footprint comes from the manufacturing and installation of new components necessary to pass 500 homes.
It is projected to take a span of three years to transition all 300 HFC subscribers over to the fiber network.
In order to factor in subscriber turnover, the embodied carbon involved with installing new drops and ONTs accounts for the remaining 40% of addressable customers at a conservative estimate churn rate of 10% annually.
By the end of the third year, the conversion of all 500 customers is anticipated to be completed, and within the subsequent four years all 500 homes have drops and ONTs placed because of churn.
At the conclusion of the third year, the assumption is to shut down the HFC network, whereby only the operational carbon footprint persists. This simple analysis excludes any carbon footprint associated with maintenance truck rolls for either network types.
In year 6, total carbon footprint of the “Do Nothing” scenario is expected to surpass those from the FTTH overbuild, positioning fiber as the definitive choice for long-term sustainability
Mindfulness-based interventions delivered via telehealth in a scalable format can improve pain and overall well-being among veterans with chronic pain, according to new research published today in JAMA Internal Medicine.
In a randomized clinical trial, researchers aimed to test the effectiveness of two eight-week telehealth mindfulness-based interventions (MBIs) designed to be scalable and widely implemented in healthcare systems. MBIs help people pay attention non-judgmentally in the present moment and often involve practices like meditation, breathing exercises or gentle movement. …
Between November 2020 and May 2022, 811 veterans with moderate to severe chronic pain participated in the Learning to Apply Mindfulness to Pain (LAMP) study at three VA facilities. Outcomes were assessed at the outset, 10 weeks, six months and one year.
Results
Key findings from the study include:
Pain-related function improved significantly for patients in the group and self-paced MBIs.
There were significant improvements in pain intensity, physical functioning, fatigue, sleep disturbance, social functioning, depression and PTSD among patients in the group and self-paced MBIs over 12 months, compared to usual care.
The group and self-paced MBIs did not significantly differ from each other.
The results of this study suggest low-resource, telehealth-based MBIs could help accelerate and improve the implementation of non-medication pain treatment in VA healthcare and beyond.
Charter Communications has picked its Rochester cable systems for the commercial debut of a TV set control box that can record and store programs, as well as images from a home computer.
St. Louis-based Charter is buying 100,000 units of the Motorola Broadband Media Center for its systems nationwide, with plans to offer the service this fall.
“Rochester has been chosen as the first market within Charter to launch this service and this platform,” said Bill Haarstead, director of marketing for Charter’s Minnesota Group.
Why Rochester MN?
The local systems were chosen as Charter’s premiere market because digital service has a comparatively large following here. More than 15 percent of customers order the digital tier, which delivers premium services including music channels and pay-per-view programming.
“We think it will appeal to the existing digital base (of customers) and bring new customers into that category,” Haarstead said. The roll-out is planned for November or December.
The Midwest Economic Policy Institute has released a report on Broadband Construction Projects and Prevailing Wage in Minnesota. They strive to make the case that requiring prevailing wages for all broadband projects (last and middle mile included) would benefit the Minnesota economy. The report is likely a response to the prevailing wage bill that passed into law last earlier this year, a bill that was heavily contested by providers.
They come at it from two angles. First, saying that prevailing wages are good for the economy…
In particular, two labor market institutions have been linked with upward economic mobility for skilled construction workers and increased investments in registered apprenticeship programs: collective bargaining agreements with trades unions and prevailing wage laws.
Without prevailing wages, contracts will go to non-locals…
Both the data and the preponderance of the economic research demonstrate that expanding prevailing wage coverage to more broadband infrastructure projects would deliver positive impacts in Minnesota. It would prevent many broadband infrastructure projects from being awarded to out-of-state contractors and nonlocal workers. This would keep more of Minnesota’s tax dollars in the local economy, increasing labor income and consumer spending in communities across the state. It would also raise wages, boost productivity, increase investments in registered apprenticeship programs, and improve worksite safety outcomes in the broadband construction industry.
And that having broadband is good for the economy…
They conclude…
Over the next six years, Minnesota will be leveraging more than $800 million in taxpayer-funded grants to spur an estimated $1.9 billion investment in broadband infrastructure. Access to reliable high-speed internet service will be expanded to 159,000 homes, businesses, farms, schools, and other community institutions. These investments will raise worker income and expand access to jobs while addressing “digital divides.” However, Minnesota will only maximize the economic development impact of these investments if they are built by local contractors who are able to attract, develop, and retain skilled trades workers during a historic labor shortage. Without action, Minnesota risks either delays in constructing this critical infrastructure or significant leakage of taxpayer dollars to out-of-state businesses and nonlocal workers, who take their earnings and consumer spending back home with them upon project completion—reducing economic activity in the state and limiting its growth potential.
To meet the moment, Minnesota could expand coverage of its prevailing wage law to most or all broadband infrastructure projects that receive taxpayer-funded grants, similar to its existing policy on other types of public works construction projects. The state’s prevailing wage law levels the playing field for contractors, improves job quality for workers, bolsters registered apprenticeship programs that train the next generation of skilled workers, and increases workforce productivity while reducing worksite safety issues. However, at least 8-in-10 broadband infrastructure projects funded with state grants since 2014 have been excluded from prevailing wage coverage.
The state could consider eliminating the exemption for “last-mile” broadband projects and reducing the coverage threshold from a grant of $200,000 to a total project value of $25,000 consistent with prevailing wage coverage on all other state-funded projects. Repealing these exceptions for prevailing wage coverage could have the ancillary benefit of improving transparency and accountability for taxpayers, with certified payroll reports becoming accessible. Additional measures could include inserting prevailing wage and other labor standards into the scoring system for awarding broadband grants to applicants and applying high safety standards on broadband infrastructure investments. These reforms could help ensure that broadband projects are built safely, on-time, and within budget by construction businesses from Minnesota who employ skilled local workers earning market-competitive wages and family-supporting benefits.
Regardless of how you feel about the issue, the report is full of helpful tables and data on the Minnesota Broadband grants.
The Cloquet Broadband Vision: To ensure access to affordable, reliable, high-speed fiber internet delivered by a committed capable community partner skilled in maintaining and operating a successful broadband network.
In December 2022, it was announced that the City of Cloquet, in partnership with Consolidated Telephone Company (CTC), secured funding from the Border-to-Border Broadband program, which is administered by the Department of Employment and Economic Development (DEED)’s Office of Broadband Development.
The grant of $4.8 million supports the “CTC Woods to Waters Broadband Initiative,” a “last mile project” designed to deliver fiber-to-the-premise service with symmetrical 1 gigabit speeds to underserved areas in rural central and northeastern Minnesota.
Project Highlights:
• The network will service 246 homes
• Includes 22 miles of mainline fiber and 11 miles of drop fiber
• Estimated total project cost is $1.8 million
• Construction is underway and is expected to be completed by fall
• Splicing will take place this fall and winter
• Installations are planned to begin in late winter or early spring
“We’re incredibly excited about this partnership. This project will be
instrumental for families and businesses as well as for future economic
growth in these communities. We look forward to providing everyone with
fast, reliable internet and top-notch local customer service for years to
come,” said Joe Buttweiler, Chief Strategy Officer.
goctc.com | (218) 454-1234
For project specific questions please contact Joe at joe@goctc.com
To sign-up for service please contact the CTC sales team at residential@goctc.com or call 218-454-1144
It was nice to hear from broadband providers from the Northeast Minnesota. The spoke frankly about the trials, tribulations and success for building broadband in the area. The importance of the Affordable Connectivity Program also came up – and the loss of trust that came up with loss of broadband.
Also nice to get public comments from folks from the frontlines!
10:10 a.m. – 10:20 a.m. Introduction – Paul McDonald, Board Chair, St. Louis County Commissioners
In 2021 created SLC broadband grants
$400,000 for community infrastructure
Worked with RAMS and IRRR to talk to folks
7,000 square miles, 13.1 pop density (people per square mile), very rocky (Canadian Shield), lakes and rural
One community in the area: 550 customers, $11M for project, many partners – still $3M shy
They leverage $10 for every $1 in grants
BEAD fears: not enough money / fall back on non-fiber solutions / ISP required to cover affordable options
10:20 a.m. – 10:25 a.m. Approval of minutes from July 18th, 2024, Task Force Meeting Done
10:25 a.m. – 11:15 a.m. Internet Service Providers Panel – Consolidated Telecommunications Company: Joe Buttweiler, Chief Strategy Officer, Northeast Service Coop: Paul Brinkman, Executive Director; Joe Weber, Operations Manager, Paul Bunyan Communications: Gary Johnson, CEO/GM; Chad Bullock Assistant GM; Patti Horazuk, Regulatory Compliance Specialist; Steve Howard, IT & Development Manager
CTC:
New things: We have workforce challenges – we need more people but have been named top 200 small businesses
New things: launching new MC Fiber construction company (CTC and Meeker Coop Light & Power)
New things: CTC Cares is a nonprofit to exclusively fund local community initiatives – new grants in 2025
Lots of partnerships with local govs, EDAs, cooperatives…
In last 10 years: $123M in federal, state local gov and CTC investment to get 16, 534 homes and businesses online
Implementing a state grant: it starts with community engagement. We develop a high level budget – how many served/unserved, is there an anchor institution, potential funders (IRRR, state funding…?), pre-application process (tell area providers you are going to apply – required by OBD) – it can cost $1000-25,000 to get this far. The state process is easier than many others.
Assembling the grant application: get letters of support (personalized letters are better!), curing a grant application if it is challenged (OBD does a nice job but it takes job and labor – could be $5,000-33,000)
Grant awarded: community engagement, grant review and bid waiver (bidding isn’t always best option – sometimes easier to negotiate (cost $1,000-6,000)
Deploying: Pre-construction, construction and activation, admin functions. They pre-wire at home while building.
NESC
Providing middle mile for last 10 years.
We look for partners to provide last mile – except public utilities.
We are a providers’ provider.
Work with public and private sectors.
Working on 40/200 gigahertz Optical Channels
Paul Bunyan Communications
Constructed nothing but fiber since 2004
Do people really need multi-Gig? We don’t want to make decisions for people.
Long standing partnerships
Strive to make things affordable. Without ACP intervention, we found people didn’t get online. SO we jumped on that and brought subscription desks and training to them. Especially helped with tribal partners. Heart broken on the demise of the ACP. We know it worked and we have stories.
6,000 square miles – have spent $245M on infrastructure from 2005 to 2023. $228M is PB investment the rest is IRRR, RDOF, Border to Border or other. Profit is not our motivation – service is.
GigaZone Gaming – 8 years going, so far
Questions:
About Bois Fort – how much of $20M has been eaten up in process?
Thousands of dollars – it’s more the time that it takes.
About Bois Fort – have you looked at cost projections from going through rock or around it?
We have $1M in rock contingency. We’re hoping CTC construction will help us keep to budget.
Sen Smith has been involved in broadband. The letters of support are striking. We hear good things about CTC and Paul Bunyan.
About Bois Fort – when complete, will it serve everyone?
Yes – although there are members who live off the reservation so that’s a factor we are working on.
For PB: what’s the impact of demise of ACP?
We did work hard on it. It was hard to send the letter about the demise and it hurts the trust between. The lack of trust is bigger than lost of broadband. A terrible collateral damage.
Cost of ACP was $5-7M per month. We might make recommendations for a State program.
Terrain is an issue in NE MN for buildouts. What do you do to mitigate it?
It’s not impossible. It’s expensive. You just have to know the costs. If you think 30 years out instead of 5 years, the math is easier.
11:15am-11:25 a.m. Break
11:25 a.m. –11:40 a.m. Broadband Equity, Access and Development Program (BEAD) Update
Bree Maki, Executive Director, Office of Broadband Development – Diane Wells, Deputy Director, Office of Broadband Development
Vol 1 approved in May
Challenge process is closing. There were 12,300 challenges made. Deadline is Wednesday. Providers have 30 days to rebut.
Vol 2 is still being cured. NTIA is hoping to approve all Vol 2s by Fall. Then we’ll have 365 days to award subgrantees. So, we’re hoping for 3 rounds of funding in 8 months.
Original vols are available online and OBD tries to keep recent versions online. There was interest from providers to sit down and go through the volume in detail. We are working on setting up something like that.
At end of subgrantee selection, we need to have a plan to serve everyone in Minnesota. If you decide not to apply in your area, we will have to select someone else.
OBD has weekly office hours (Thursday 2-3pm).
Q: How do you feel about 12,000 challenges?
It’s lowering that we were anticipating. Most are from providers. Last round MN grants is part of the process. ARPA was never captured by OBD so we’re seeing some of that now. Also seeing fixed wireless going from licensed to unlicensed.
11:40 a.m. – 11:50 a.m. Digital Opportunity Update
Bree Maki, Executive Director, Office of Broadband Development – Hannah Buckland, Digital Equity Program Lead
Third month is a row – still waiting on capacity grant. 48 states are waiting.
Federal funding for dollars ended at end of March so DEED has been paying them
Competitive grants, OBD is only providing technical assistance. We don’t do letters of support but we can help.
11:50 a.m. – 12:05 p.m. Office of Broadband Development Overview – Bree Maki, Executive Director, Office of Broadband Development
DEED and OBD is in a State audit review. Going well.
Working on statewide plans for permitting
We have concern about $652M reaching everyone – we are having to recognize that fiber won’t go everywhere.
Working with Dep of Labor on certification programs required after last MN Legislative session
We are working on awarding Round 10 funding. We’re aiming on early fall. We’re trying to coordinate with ReConnect and BEAD.
Line Extension continues. Round 1 needs to be done this year. Round 3 is in process
12:05 p.m. – 12:20 p.m. Sub-Group Discussion in preparation for Broadband Task Force Annual Report – Affordability & Digital Equity; Mapping, Funding, & Policy; Economic Opportunity & Workforce
Affordability & Digital Equity
They are looking at plans for MN version of ACP. Looking at what data might be useful.
Looking what feds are doing with Lifeline
Adding digital navigation to 211 – but thinking it goes into United Way
Mapping, Funding and Policy
Community planning efforts
Recruit workforce
Increase statutory speed goals
Continuation of digital equity
Continuation of Line Extension
Q: How can Lead for America help? Is it though orgs or communities?
TBD
Economic Opportunity & Workforce
Data review of past broadband projects, especially success
Current workforce doing broadband deployment? What’s the forecast when all states want those types of employees?
What is State currently doing to prepare people for jobs in broadband deployment?
CWA and CTC have joint apprenticeship programs. Might be nice to hear more about it.
12:20 p.m. – 12:30 p.m. Other Business, September 24th Meeting Plans, Wrap-up
We will talk more about how subcommittees prepare for the yearend report in future meetings.
Any open comments?
Rep from small town outside of Duluth (Northstar Township)– we need help. We have 238 places that need broadband. We have 275 voters. We are 7.33 miles away from broadband. We can’t afford broadband.
They were part of a Border to Border grant that was disqualified due to RDOF.
Need to makes sure those addresses are challenged if need be.
Paul Peltier from RAMS. What can local folks do to help policymakers? We have 13,000 square miles – they don’t all have broadband. We’ve worked with local providers. We have households that would still need to go to McDonalds for internet access. Do you folks recognize that building broadband is only getting more expensive. Rural broadband is going to change rural America.
Pay attention to the challenge process.
As draft reports are coming out – we could have in depth conversations about where the gaps are and try to build coalitions. Good questions.
We need to make the right recommendations. Concrete examples are helpful.
Tom Karst at NTIA: Getting involved in the Challenge process is key.
Here’s information on the Task Force meeting tomorrow…
Governor’s Task Force on Broadband
Monday, August 19, 2024
10:00 a.m. – 12:30 p.m.
Northeast Service Cooperative 5525 Emerald Ave, Mountain Iron, MN 55768
OR
Microsoft Teams Join the meeting now
Meeting ID: 289 001 798 556
Passcode: 6fxpgB
Dial in by phone +1 651-395-7448,,492211021# United States, St. Paul Find a local number
Phone conference ID: 492 211 021#
Join on a video conferencing device Tenant key: mn@m.webex.com
Video ID: 119 315 249 0 More info For organizers: Meeting options | Reset dial-in PIN
10:00 a.m. – 10:10 a.m. Welcome – Teddy Bekele, Chair, Minnesota Governor’s Task Force on Broadband
10:10 a.m. – 10:20 a.m. Introduction – Paul McDonald, Board Chair, St. Louis County Commissioners
10:20 a.m. – 10:25 a.m. Approval of minutes from July 18th, 2024, Task Force Meeting
10:25 a.m. – 11:15 a.m. Internet Service Providers Panel – Consolidated Telecommunications Company: Joe Buttweiler, Chief Strategy Officer, Northeast Service Coop: Paul Brinkman, Executive Director; Joe Weber, Operations Manager, Paul Bunyan Communications: Gary Johnson, CEO/GM; Chad Bullock Assistant GM; Patti Horazuk, Regulatory Compliance Specialist; Steve Howard, IT & Development Manager
11:15am-11:25 a.m. Break
11:25 a.m. –11:40 a.m. Broadband Equity, Access and Development Program (BEAD) Update
Bree Maki, Executive Director, Office of Broadband Development – Diane Wells, Deputy Director, Office of Broadband Development
11:40 a.m. – 11:50 a.m. Digital Opportunity Update
Bree Maki, Executive Director, Office of Broadband Development – Hannah Buckland, Digital Equity Program Lead
11:50 a.m. – 12:05 p.m. Office of Broadband Development Overview – Bree Maki, Executive Director, Office of Broadband Development
12:05 p.m. – 12:20 p.m. Sub-Group Discussion in preparation for Broadband Task Force Annual Report – Affordability & Digital Equity; Mapping, Funding, & Policy; Economic Opportunity & Workforce
12:20 p.m. – 12:30 p.m. Other Business, September 24th Meeting Plans, Wrap-up
I am delighted to share this opportunity from PCs for People, who have partnered with Blandin Foundation in the past with Blandin Broadband Communities and Minnesota Intelligent Rural Communities…
PCs for People has the opportunity to apply for the NTIA Digital Equity Competitive Grant which would allow us to distribute even more devices to our partners and their clients over the next four years. I am reaching out to gauge your interest in further collaborating with us.
If awarded this grant, we would be able to provide our BEST category laptops for $87.50 each and/or hotspots for $30 with 3 months of service at no cost to your clients. We would need a letter of support (more info to come on this) and an estimate of how many devices you would purchase over the next four years at the above costs.
Per the stipulations of the grant, the devices would need to go to “covered populations” which are defined as:
– Households with income from the most recently completed year of not more than 150% of the federal poverty level (FPL);
– Aging individuals;
– Incarcerated individuals, other than individuals who are incarcerated in a Federal correctional facility;
– Veterans;
– Individuals with disabilities;
– Individuals with a language barrier, including English learners and those with low levels of literacy;
– Individuals who are members of a racial or ethnic minority group; and/or
– Individuals who primarily reside in a rural area.
With a tight turn around deadline of September 23 and a variety of moving pieces, time is of the essence!
Please let me know if you’re interested in further discussing this opportunity for both our organizations to help bridge the digital divide.
Seven Star Communities is a new initiative to honor and celebrate Native nations accomplishing digital inclusion work. Native nations are a critical part of our network of digital inclusion practitioners here at NDIA. The Seven Star Communities program hopes to highlight outstanding work, and also provide an opportunity for Native nations to learn from each other.
The application for Seven Star Communities 2024 will open towards the end of August.
The Minnesota companies said a local competitor does not offer voice service.
A federal agency is planning to take a close look at whether two broadband providers deserve millions more dollars in future support after what they say was a flawed allocation process.
The Federal Communications Commission is seeking input on claims that two Midwest broadband providers saw lower Enhanced ACAM support because a competitor was misclassified.
By this Public Notice, the Wireline Competition Bureau (Bureau) seeks comment on the filing submitted by Arvig Enterprises, Inc. (Arvig) and Rural Communications Holding Corporation (BEVCOMM),[1] which claimed that those companies’ Enhanced Alternative Connect America Cost Model (Enhanced A-CAM) support offers were incorrectly calculated because Midcontinent Communications (Midco) was incorrectly classified as an unsubsidized competitor offering voice service.[2]
[1] Comments of Arvig Enterprises, Inc. (Arvig) and Rural Communications Holding Corporation (BEVCOMM), WC Docket No. 10-90 (filed Jul. 16, 2024) (Arvig Comments).
This week’s BEAD Challenge weekly office hour was short and sweet – likely because there is just one week left in the challenge portion of the process.
I’ll paste screenshots from the demonstration below and general notes and questions that caught my attention.
Questions:
Update: Portal users can now download their own open rebuttals as CSV
Q: We can upload Word Doc as evidence. If there’s a hypertext link in that Doc would that opened link qualify as evidence?
Yes if that link always worked. Although we might need to check with the team.
Seems like this could be a shortcut to multiple challenges – just listing many links.
Actually let us double check on that.
Q: Do people have challenges planned for next week?
Q: If we have many profiles on our account can we let you know in advance to streamline the process?
Yes – that should be helpful.
Q: Some locations are abandoned sites – what evidence do we need for that to remove them from the FCC fabric?
Need a fabric challenge. It may not be the providers purview to challenge. We’ve figure out a way.
From the Chat:
Sign up for the OBD emails: mn.gov/deed/programs-services/broadband/contact/
The OBD webpage has the latest info + resources on BEAD: mn.gov/deed/programs-services/broadband/bead/
Broadband Matters: Office of Broadband Development Updates
BEAD Challenge, resources + updates
Digital Opportunity update
Governor’s Task Force on Broadband to meet Monday, August 19th
OBD, out of office!
BEAD Challenge, resources + updates
The BEAD Challenge Portal is open and accepting challenges until August 21st. Visit the OBD BEAD webpage for more information on using the portal, submitting a challenge, and recordings from BEAD Challenge Weekly Office hours with AppGeo walkthroughs of the portal.
OBD strongly recommends eligible challengers submit their challenges ahead of the August 21st deadline and not wait until the end of the 30-day challenge window. This allows for more time to submit additional evidence in case your Challenge is rejected as incomplete.
Register for the next BEAD Challenge weekly office hours, Thursday August 15th at 2pm here. Office hours will include updates on the Challenge process and a time for Q+A from eligible challenges and community members.
Reminders and additional resources on the OBD webpage:
Residents and businesses should only do speed tests in the BEAD Challenge Portal if their location shows as served and they subscribe to service of at least 100Mbps download and 20Mbps upload and do not get those speeds when they do a speed test. The speed tests are then used to challenge your location as erroneously being listed as served. If your location already shows as unserved, there is no reason to do a speed test as there is nothing to challenge. Valid speed tests will then be submitted as BEAD Challenges by the non-profit Connected Nation. (Under NTIA requirements, only providers, non-profits, local and Tribal governments are eligible to submit BEAD Challenges.)
The FAQ on BEAD, the Challenge Process, and Challenge Portal is live! It’s available on the webpage under “Additional Resources”, or as a downloadable PDF, found here: mn.gov/deed/programs-services/broadband/bead/faq/
Digital Opportunity Update
NTIA has announced a webinar series for potential Digital Equity Competitive Grant applicants to learn more about preparing a successful application. Recordings and slide decks are also made available following each:
At this time, OBD’s application for the State Digital Equity Capacity Grant is still under federal review. Updates on its status will continue to be shared through our biweekly e-blasts and posted under the “Latest Updates” tab of OBD’s Digital Opportunity webpage.
Governor’s Task Force on Broadband, July meeting recap
The Task Force will meet in Mountain Iron, MN at 10 a.m. Central Time on Monday August 19th. The meeting will have virtual as well as in-person options for attending and is being hosted at the Northeast Service Cooperative (5525 Emerald Ave, Mountain Iron, MN 55768).
In the past month, staff from OBD had the opportunity to visit sites and check on the progress of projects with Border-to-Border funding. This has included:
In July, OBD staff visited sites for Arvig projects in Nowthen (Toby Sunderland, Construction Manager, pictured right), ElkRiver, and Clear Lake and HavenTownship
Site visits included Mediacom projects in Escalon, Esko, Esquagama, Hibbing, and a more recent B2B project in Esquagama Lake
OBD with Midco staff also included trips to projects in Forest Lake, Independence, and May Township
