From the Office of Broadband Development…
Broadband Matters: Office of Broadband Development Updates
- BEAD updates
- Resources on federal BEAD changes
- Broadband Task Force, June meeting recap
- Line Extension Connection Program
BEAD updates
On Friday June 6, the National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) released the BEAD Restructuring Policy Notice modifying elements of the BEAD program. Minnesota’s Office of Broadband Development is working with federal, state and local partners to understand how this impacts our state’s ability to empower Minnesotans through the implementation of the federal BEAD program in our state.
Information will continue to be posted and updated as needed on the OBD BEAD webpage.
Upcoming BEAD office hours from the OBD have been scheduled. These will be Tuesdays at 11 am, and will not be recorded unless otherwise noted.
- June 24, register here
- July 1, register here
- July 8, register here
- July 15, register here
Resources on federal BEAD changes
Other news and resources on understanding the impacts of the June 6, BEAD Restructuring Policy Notice include:
- June 16 NTIA released a slide deck, Understanding the BEAD Restructuring Notice, that reviews major program shifts and compares and contrasts the BEAD Notice of Funding (NOFO) and Restructuring BEAD Policy Notice.
- Broadband Breakfast article quoting OBD Executive Director Bree Maki, on how State Broadband Officers Plan to Make BEAD Work from June 13 from the Speeding BEAD Summit OBD staff attended in Ohio, June 9-11.
- Benton Institute for Broadband & Society blog What Do We Know About LEO Bids? from June 12 and Fixed Wireless Technologies and Their Suitability for Broadband Delivery from June 10
- Opinion blog from June 11 on the impact of BEAD changes on State Broadband Offices.
- The Institute for Local Self Reliance (ISLR) published a podcast June 9, BEAD Overhauled on how States are required to rebuild and resubmit their proposals to the federal agency on a 90-day sprint after making core changes just as money for construction was about to go out the door.
The views expressed in this publication are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the official stance of the Minnesota State Office of Broadband Development.
Governor’s Task Force on Broadband, June meeting recap
The Broadband Task Force met virtually on Wednesday, June 11 at 10am. The Task Force heard a presentation from Neighborhood House’s Shabazz-Adasi Milton (Digital Navigator, American Connection Corps/Neighborhood House), Noah Nelsen, (Evening Adult Education Program Supervisor, Neighborhood House) and Nick Contreraz (Vice President of Programs, Neighborhood House) providing a background and overview of the work of their organization.
The Task Force will not be meeting in July, and information on the August meeting, as well as other past meetings, will be available on the Broadband Task Force webpage.
The Minnesota Line Extension Connection Program aims to connect residents and businesses that lack access to wired broadband internet service with service providers and assist in the expense of extending broadband to those locations.
Owners of residential and business locations lacking a wired internet connection with access to actual speeds equal to or greater than 25 Mbps download and 3 Mbps upload, can submit their address location for bid consideration by entering their information into the Line Extension Connection portal to initiate their interest in receiving broadband internet service. More information on how to submit an application via portal, phone, or mail is available on the OBD Line Extension Connection webpage.