Today I attended an in-person version of the MN Office of Broadband Development Update: BEAD Final Proposal  held last week. For the PPTs and great detail, I recommend you check that post. Last week, I went to the in person meeting in Hutchinson; today I went to Owatonna. Mostly I took note of updates and questions from the attendees. There were about a dozen people in the room including both providers and community folks.

One big note: Public Comments deadline is September 3.

There are three more meetings this week:

• Tuesday Sept. 2, 3:30—4:30pm, Northwest Minnesota Foundation (NWMF), Bemidji, 201 3rd Street NW Bemidji, MN.
  • Note: Attendees, please plan to find street parking.
• Wednesday Sept. 3, 9—10am, West Central Initiative Foundation (WCIF), Fergus Falls, 1000 Western Ave, Fergus Falls, MN.
  • Note: Attendees, please park in the part of the lot on the south side of the building.
• Wednesday Sept. 3, 3—4pm, Northspan, Duluth, 202 West Superior Street, Suite 600, Duluth, MN.
  • Note: Attendees, this is located in the in the WesternBank building. Parking can be found on the street, the Holiday Center, or in the Duluth Transit

Questions:

• Is everything public now?
  Essentially, but we’re still working on some aspects like awards by county.
• Is the provider negation still confidential?
  Yes.
• How many homes are as expensive as the most expensive ($32,000)?
  Maybe 10 in a given area. And some areas were even more expensive $72,000 and a million dollars.
• Rumor has it some providers low-bid areas to call dibs on those areas. Is that true? That could leave us in a RDOF situation again.
  Yes.
• Did some providers choose not to participate?
  Yes.
• Were there satellite applications in the original round of grant apps?
  No.
• Why do we have LEO satellite?
  There are 2 providers Starlink and Amazon Kuiper Starlink claims to reach everyone. Amazon is asking for money for infrastructure. We do understand that satellite is very different from fiber.
• Why has the amount of funding seemingly gone down?
  There’s non-deployment funds. We didn’t build in a contingency for deployment in the original funds because we wanted it to go to infrastructure. With the changes we have changed out plans. We have plans to spend the money on other things such as upgrading or adding towers.
• Will that money stay in MN?
  We hope so. But the money may just go away. It’s likely to be state-to-state.
• Where does line extension fit with BEAD?
  There will be another Line Extension program opening in the next two weeks. We are trying to maximize funding to areas that don’t qualify for BEAD. They went through direct negotiations.
• What percent of applications were fiber/satellite/wireless?
  We will work on that. 110 applications 5-6 were fixed wireless; the rest were fiber. Satellite got through direct negotiations. We lost 20 applications from the first round. Mostly of the fixed wireless were for areas without a fiber bid.
• Is there going to be accountability with providers who have been dishonest about the maps?
  OBD is not regulatory. OBD tries to do the best maps possible. Please continue to ask the regulators.
• The maps online do not all make a ton of sense to the regular reader.
  NTIA required some very technical expertise and software.
• It would be nice to have a statewide broadband conference. Would OBD think about something like that?
  We have been asked for that – but the pieces are moving too quickly. We will try again next year. Also, it would be nice to have our federal partners in the room.
• Maybe the Initiative Founds could take up gauntlet for a conference?
  Folks have seemed interest. The MN Broadband Task Force is a good place to get information. There is a need for digital inclusion information and resources too.
• 40,000 locations will benefit from broadband asis. Are they unserved or underserved?
  Most communities already have better than 25/3 because MN had been doing this for a long time. We have 70,000 that don’t qualify for BEAD
• We are in a RDOF areas that didn’t get the actual funding (LTD Broadband) . Do you know if we qualify for BEAD? I have DSL. I get 2.4Mbps down and 1.6 up. (Goodhue County)
  OBD used data from Line Extension to make decisions on BEAD. We are working on an interactive map by county and location.
• I see fiber going to towers. Much of it is unused. Can we find which areas have unused fiber and use it?
  Beyond the purview of OBD.
• We have talked to different providers about leasing fiber to other providers who might want to finish broadband to the location.
• Can we get earmarks for broadband in the future?
  Not earmarks have been for broadband. Infrastructure works well there, but it’s usually focused on money to local government – not a private provider. You need a community network if you’re going to go for an earmark.
• Does the State know if there are RDOF funds that have yet to default? If that’s the case, maybe BEAD could pick up the slack.
  We did build a 10 percent contingency in all of the projects. So we hope that will help. If there’s something specific, please let us know and we can find out what we can.
• Do you work with the DNR?
  Yes.
  I talked to DNR about working around a river in our community and they said it would take an act of god.
  It’s hard to find a solution.
• What mechanisms are being set up to monitor the satellite connections?
  Good question. We need receipts and deliverables. Also hard to track new subscriptions. For those who have nothing, satellite will be an upgrade.
• Will we see movement on December 4?
  You will see as soon as we see. It could be quicker.
• Could OBD help create development services like Blandin used to provide? So many of us got started with Blandin.
  We don’t have money for development now that the digital inclusion funds are gone. But we would support something.