OBD Office Hours April 15: last meeting for BEAD Round 1 – MN forging ahead

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Today was the final Office before Grant Round 11a closes. (That’s the first round of BEAD funding.) A couple dozen people attended. The meetings will start up again on May 6. (Links to RSVP to future meeting are in the chat section below.) The contractor list gets updated weekly. Like last week, the questions were very specific but how nice for applicants to get a chance to ask.

One high level topic raised by OBD – Minnesota is charging forward with BEAD – but OBD is aware of talk about changes in BEAD at the federal level.

Questions:

Will the maps of locations be published during these rounds?
No

Can we submit applications confidentially?
There are limited circumstances where you can submit some confidential information.

For example, when we applied for Border to Border we highlighted confidential information.
We will get more information when we can.

When we request a waiver, does that change your evaluation of the application?
No. If there’s overlap – the highest score will win. We’d need to look at the scoring matrix – assuming a waiver is moving forward. But if the waiver doesn’t move forward that might be an issue.

With local cost options, there are two price categories – if you’re in between those numbers, do you need a waiver?
We might need to get more specific.

Is there an option to amend any of the Pre-qualification responses?
Need to hear more. It depends on the information.

Where is the tribal lands GIS layer? We want to make sure to use the right map.
At this time, the best source data is the BIA AIAN Land Area Representations.
· Map service https://www.arcgis.com/home/item.html?id=e21128c26386412ca682accf7a57361a
· Download https://www.census.gov/cgi-bin/geo/shapefiles/index.php?year=2024&layergroup=American+Indian+Area+Geography
If additional guidance is released, OBD will provide updates as available.

When can we anticipate that FAQ to be available?
It is posted now. We update as soon as we can.
What time does the portal close?
4:30pm CST on April 21. More questions are welcome.

From Chat:

Resources and portal access are available on the OBD BEAD webpage.

The  MN BEAD Contractor Directory is available and will continue to be updated weekly. To be added to the directory, complete and submit the Minnesota BEAD Contractor Directory Form.

Please continue to submit BEAD FAQs through the online form, available here: https://forms.office.com/g/jE9EC1Zzpv. Subgrantee Selection questions pertaining to 11a must be submitted by end of day today, April 15.

Upcoming webinars:

what speed is required for the low cost option?
The minimum 100/20.
2.12.1: Low-Cost Broadband Service Option Describe the low-cost broadband service option(s) that must be offered by subgrantees as selected by the Eligible Entity, including why the outlined option(s) best services the needs of residents within the Eligible Entity’s jurisdiction. At a minimum, this response must include a definition of low-cost broadband service option that clearly addresses the following, as outlined on page 67 of the BEAD NOFO:   a. All recurring charges to the subscriber, as well as any non-recurring costs or fees to the subscriber (e.g., service initiation costs); b. The plan’s basic service characteristics (download and upload speeds, latency, any limits on usage or availability, and any material network management practices);  c. Whether a subscriber may use any Affordable Connectivity Benefit subsidy toward the plan’s rate; and  d. Any provisions regarding the subscriber’s ability to upgrade to any new low-cost service plans offering more advantageous technical specifications. Minnesota will adopt the below as the low-income offering, based largely on the model provided in the BEAD NOFO: Minnesota will adopt the below as the low-income offering, based largely on the model provided in the BEAD NOFO: 1. The proposed service option: a. Costs $46.98 on non-tribal lands/$30 on Tribal lands per month ($46.98/$30) or less, inclusive of all fees and charges that accrue to the provider with no additional nonrecurring costs or fees to the consumer; b. Allows the end user to apply the Affordable Connectivity Benefit subsidy to the service price; c. Provides typical download speeds of at least 100 Mbps and typical upload speeds of at least 20 Mbps, or the fastest speeds the infrastructure is capable of if less than 100 Mbps/20 Mbps; d. Provides typical latency measurements of no more than 100 milliseconds; and e. Is not subject to data caps, surcharges, or usage-based throttling, and is subject only to the same acceptable use policies to which subscribers to all other broadband internet access service plans offered to home subscribers by the participating subgrantee must adhere; f. In the event the provider later offers a low-cost plan with higher speeds downstream and/or upstream, permits Eligible Subscribers that are subscribed to a low-cost broadband service option to upgrade to the new low-cost offering at no cost. 2. Applicants and subgrantees may request a modification to their low-cost service option target effective rate as follows: a. In no case may the offered rate on non-tribal lands exceed $62.28 which is two percent of the highest regional Cost of Living for a single person by Minnesota 64 Economic Development Region (EDR) and $67.95 on Tribal lands which is the current low-cost rate on Tribal lands by a Tribal owned broadband provider. ($62.28/$67.95) The economic feasibility of the low-cost option and the not-to-exceed rate on nonTribal lands are directly related to the 2016 FCC determination that an affordable broadband rate should not exceed two percent of monthly household income. Cost of living required for a single person in Minnesota, calculated by region, provides the benchmark for Minnesota’s affordable low-cost option for the BEAD program. The resulting rate range is shown in the below chart. Economic Developemnet Region (EDR) Monthly Cost Single Cost of Living for a Single Person EDR 1 – Northwest $28,380  2% of Monthly Cost $2,365  EDR 2 – Headwaters  $47.30 $30,792  $2,566  EDR 3 – Arrowhead $51.32 $30,876  $2,573  EDR 4 – West Central $29,328  $2,444  $51.46 EDR 5 – North Central $48.88 $30,708  $2,559  EDR 6E- Southwest Central $51.18 $29,292  $2,441  EDR 6W- Upper Minnesota Valley $48.82 $28,284  $2,357  EDR 7E- East Central $35,952  $2,996  $47.14 EDR 7W- Central $59.92 $34,824  $2,902  EDR 8 – Southwest $58.04 $28,188  $2,349  EDR 9 – South Central $46.98 $29,700  $2,475  EDR 10 – Southeast $31,596  $2,633  $49.50 EDR 11 – 7 County Twin Cities $52.66 $37,368  $3,114  $62.28 b. Modifications to offered rates on non-tribal lands to a level between $46.98 and the $62.28 Not to Exceed (NTE) level may be granted based on evidence supporting the newly proposed rate: c. Per-subscriber costs in an area indicating that the target effective rate above would be financially unsustainable; and/or d. The impact on average revenue per user (ARPU) and total project revenue of the target effective rate above would be financially unsustainable given actual or projected subscriber adoption patterns; and/or e. The newly proposed rate is consistent with the low-cost offering the applicant or subgrantee makes available in unsubsidized areas within the State (for the same or substantially the same level of service) at the time of application or the time the subgrantee begins providing service to customers in a BEAD- funded project area in the State, provided that the existing low-cost offering does not exceed $62.28. f. If an applicant or subgrantee provides the evidence above, the modification request shall be granted, and the new modified level shall remain the maximum Not to Exceed offered rate for the provider for the duration of the federal interest. 65 g. Modifications to offered rates on Tribal lands to a level between $30 and the $67.95 Tribal Not to Exceed (NTE) level may be granted upon evidence showing Tribal concurrence with the newly proposed rate on its Tribal lands. 3. The specified price may be adjusted once per year based on the Consumer Price Index, as defined by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, beginning with an adjustment in the first new calendar year after the date of approval of this Initial Proposal Volume 2 by NTIA. 4. Subgrantees are required to participate in the Affordable Connectivity Program or any successor program, and Eligible Subscribers that are eligible for a broadband service subsidy can apply the subsidy to the proposed service option. 5. OBD will also allow subgrantees to include in their applications a request to be reimbursed at 75% for all equipment costs required to be provided to low-income households at no charge per the above language that the subgrantee otherwise recovers from non-low-income households via a non-recurring charge. The types of costs anticipated to be the subject of such a request would be routers, modems, etc. 6. The BEAD low-cost option is only required to be offered to qualifying low-income households in locations where broadband construction occurs with BEAD funding. This requirement does not apply to service provided by a subgrantee for other locations where it offers service, including locations funded with state grant funding or ARPA CPF funding. The requirement to offer a low-cost option for low- income households expires at the conclusion of the 10-year federal interest period after construction although subgrantees can elect to continue the offering. 7. Subgrantees will need to certify via a checkbox in their application agreement to comply with the above, as well as certify in annual reporting that it is in compliance with the low-income broadband service option requirement. If a potential subgrantee would find any of the above provisions would preclude them from submitting an application for BEAD funding, OBD will consider submitting a waiver request to NTIA if the applicant demonstrates that its proposed offering is consistent with the low-cost offering the applicant makes available in unsubsidized areas within the State (for the same or substantially the same level of service). Waivers of the Low Cost Service Option provisions are at NTIA’s approval only. If a potential subgrantee generally objects to the requirement to offer a low-cost option, then it should not submit an application for the BEAD program. There will be no difference in what the low-cost option looks like if ACP expires and no successor program follows. It is appropriate to have a low-cost broadband option that may result in a monthly charge that is above $0 to the eligible household because the entire subsidy is being born by the subgrantee. Broadband providers obviously have costs associated with every location to which they offer service, and it is only fair that every location has some responsibility to bear a portion of those charges in the absence of a government subsidy. The Office of Broadband will follow Minnesota State Statue 10.65 and continue to conduct consultations with our tribal partners as OBD administers the BEAD program.
https://mn.gov/deed/programs-services/broadband/bead/

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