Broadband Breakfast reports…

Minnesota’s broadband office urged the Commerce Department Thursday to protect state-level decision-making under the $42.5 billion Broadband, Equity, Access and Deployment program, while making changes “to improve program acceleration and efficiency.”

In a letter sent Thursday to Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick, Minnesota Office of Broadband Development Executive Director Bree Maki called on the federal government to “respectfully request that [the National Telecommunications and Information Administration] continue to allow states to make choices that will best allow their residents to get online quickly.”

“Congress created [BEAD to give] states the power to create state-specific programs to suit our needs,” Maki wrote. “We urge you not to make any changes that will slow down the program,” and “are requesting enhancements to boost the number of actual applications submitted and maximize coverage of eligible Broadband Service Locations.”

Minnesota’s letter outlined several proposed changes aimed at expediting deployment. Among the top priorities:

• Scrapping the federal letter of credit requirement, which Minnesota argues diverts resources away from infrastructure buildout and toward financial institutions;
• Implementing a federal “shot clock” for NTIA and [the National Institute of Standards and Technology] to approve or deny state requests—defaulting to automatic approval if deadlines are missed;
• Maintaining states’ ability to prioritize fiber projects in both BEAD funding rounds; and,
• Applying consistent standards across all technologies, instead of creating separate requirements for low-Earth orbit satellites or unlicensed wireless providers.

The letter proposed a 15-to-60-day window for federal reviews, depending on request type, and called for a public dashboard to track pending and completed NTIA and NIST actions.

Minnesota also wanted to eliminate the 365-day deadline for submitting final proposals after Volume 2 approval, requesting that extensions be automatically granted or mutually agreed upon.