The MN Broadband Task Force met in October. I wasn’t able to make it but I got handouts from the Office of Broadband Development website and happened to be in a meeting where Diane Wells gave an OBD update, similar to what she would have given at the meeting. (I will add the minutes from OBD when they post them.)

Here’s the agenda with information I have plugged into the right space:

10:00 a.m. – 10:10 a.m. Welcome
Teddy Bekele, Chair, Minnesota Governor’s Task Force on Broadband

10:10 a.m. – 10:15 a.m. Approval of minutes from September 24^th, 2024, Task Force Meeting

10:15 a.m. – 10:35 a.m. Office of Broadband Development Overview + BEAD and Digital Opportunity Updates
Bree Maki, Executive Director, OBD
Diane Wells, Deputy Director, OBD
Hannah Buckland, Digital Equity Program Lead, OBD

[Again this following is a presentation Diane Wells gave two days after the TF meeting so likely to be very similar.]

Round 10 Grants were Announced:

• 40 applications 18 awarded for Border to Border
• 27 applications 8 awarded for Lower Population Density awards

Line Extension Update

• $13 million requests for $7.5 million of funding. Providers tried to group requests to get Line Extension to make best use of funding available.
• They will announce locations by county once awardees have been informed.

Staffing updates:

• Hired new staff.
• Will be hiring a permitting person soon.

BEAD Update

• Finished with Adjudication; working to finalize data then will go to NTIA. NTIA may take a couple of months.
• We need work with NTIA liaison to submit final program Oct 3, 2025.
• If final proposal is approved – then the contracting can begin. But that timing may not suit MN weather – given 4 year deadline
• Looking for new grant management system with better reporting facilities

Questions:

• We should get providers to apply for BEAD. They need to apply on portal for pre-qualification?
  Yes.
• The end goal is to get funding to places that need it. So we’re working on updating the maps and getting the information out. But they definitely don’t want to fund in an area that is now being served. So they’re doing their best to keep maps updated.
• The focus is on unserved over underserved due to BEAD rules.
• Will you look at geographic diversity?
  That’s not a federal focus.
• There are providers that say they won’t participate. Their backbones are located near unserved areas. Can we find a way to flag those areas or work around the non-participants?
  Yes – through other funds such as Line Extension.
• Any news on broadband tech assistance grants?
  Haven’t heard anything. No plans for ReConnect for a while – at least 2 years.

10:35a.m. – 11:05 a.m. Presentation from Connected Nation
A non-profit organization that works nationally, and in Minnesota, with the mission to improve lives by providing innovative solutions that expand the access, adoption, and use of high-speed internet and its related technologies.
Wes Kerr, Director of Community Solutions

11:05 a.m. – 11:15 a.m. Break

11:15 a.m.—12:20 p.m. Work time for subgroups on annual report draft
Affordability & Digital Equity
Economic Opportunity & Work Force Development
Mapping, Funding, and Policy

12:20 p.m. – 12:30 p.m. Other Business, November 26^th Meeting Plans, Wrap-up