Broadband Breakfast reports…

Minnesota’s “Benefit of the Bargain” round received ten fewer applications from fiber providers and left 22,000 locations without any bids.

Bree Maki, executive director of Minnesota’s Office of Broadband Development, told attendees at Mountain Connect on Tuesday that the state had seen a significant drop in participation from the fiber industry.

“There are about 22,000 of the 76,000 eligible locations that did not receive a first-round bid,” Maki explained. “We lost ten applications from fiber providers because of it—and rightfully so. This is confusing.”