More than 80 people attended the Minnesota BEAD Final Proposal Virtual Information Session today. It was a lot of information. I have the video and PPTs below. I have mostly taken notes on action items and deadlines.

Most importantly: The draft of the Final Proposal, attachments, and form for public comment are available on the webpage, under the first dropdown titled, NOW AVAILABLE: BEAD Final Proposal + Public Comment:  https://mn.gov/deed/programs-services/broadband/bead/

Action items:

• Proposal is due Sep 4. The OBD will work with NTIA for 30 days to finalize the report. NTIA gets the final say.
• Public comments are welcome over the next 7 days. There will be listening sessions around the state over the next week – where folks can make public comments. Mail in comments are not accepted due to time constraints.
• There will be a similar session available for tribal communities.

Questions/Comments:

• Have providers been notified if they have received awards or will not receive those they applied for?
  OBD has been working with providers. We have 24 subgrantee entities who will be awarded funds. We will post the specifics soon.
  There are a few projects that will probably not win any locations. We have not notified them yet. We are still talking to applicants.
  A tricky aspect is that even awarding now – is preliminary until NTIA approves.
• So providers should know if they were going to receive an award?
  Sounds like it. They have been negotiating.
• How is build out to CAIs captured in the Final Plan?
  They were included as regular BSLs – but otherwise did not focus on community anchor institutions.
• How can we help in the comment period? What info can we share? What can we say?
  We will consider comments. But we can’t change much. There’s not much wiggle room.
  We got 60 letters of support of OBD for the final proposal.
  Not sure where the letters will end up – but we want to hear from you.
• For those that were contacted, are we to expect an additional letter or email from OBD to follow up?
  We want to get through the comment period and then contact folks. We want to talk about what to expect if you get funding because we will be using federal not state rules.
• Could you tell us what the process between the state and the feds will be in the next 3 months?
  There is a 90-day review process, which will include NIST.
  We assume there will be some back and forth.
  We will share info when we can.
  We met with them earlier this week. We are getting through the processes.
• Can you screen share to show where the awardees are listed?
• Sorry to be that guy, but does it help to show up for the public comment sessions in person?
  Yes