About 50 people shows up for the MN Public Broadband Alliance meeting in Le Sueur County, including broadband industry folks, elected officials and interesting community members. They heard from experts in the field (ncluding Gigi Sogn from AAPB and Ry Marcattillo from ILSR) and folks on the front lines. Asked good questions. We all appreciated the work that has been done in Minnesota regarding broadband, including work from the Blandin Foundation. We rallied to prepare for whatever may come down the BEAD pipeline and get better broadband to all MN residents.

Broadband Story in Le Sueur County

• Met at a local broadband event
• Became a BBC partner and then COVID hit
• Did the BBC program online
• Used some COVID funds to deploy/extend broadband in the area
• Joined MPBA; appreciated Diane Wells’ expertise at monthly meeting

Micah Myers

• Built fiber network in 1997
• Works with many partners
• Supported by Blandin

Bree Maki, OBD

• Has been managing MN response to BEAD
• Manages state dollars for broadband
• Will close 55 grants this fall
• Doing Line Extension again in upcoming weeks
• Glad to have $381M in BEAD requests
• The difficulty in MN is that we’ve built to any of the easier to reach (less expensive) locations, which leaves us with the most expensive to serve
• Maps are adjusting all of the time
• What will we do with “leftover” money? We’d like to do fiber but we don’t know what will qualify as non-deployment projects. We’re looking a things like wireless towers or multi-unit dwelling locations.

Chuck Ackman reads a letter from Senator Klobuchar –

MN Municipal Sector BB investments in MN (Barbara Droher Kline, Perry Mulcrone, Jeff Dahna, Micah Myers)

COFFEE BREAK

Gigi Sohn, American Association for Public Broadband

• https://www.aapb.us/
• Federal efforts to closer the digital divide – have left MN behind. MN communities are still waiting. But MN has the power to build it’s own broadband.
• RDOF defaults in MN were overwhelming and tragic. Now BEAD, part of the bipartisan bill. Originally the focus was to let locals make decisions. Biden’s Admin took too long. Trump Admin changed that focus.
• In MN 27,000 locations were left without a BEAD bid because 10 fiber providers walked away from BEAD rather than work within the ever-changing rules. Fixed is a long term fix Satellite and fixed wireless is not a long term solution.
• Originally the left over money was meant to help people use broadband – like permitting and towers but not the Department of Commerce has been clear that they want to get the money back.
• The feds have show in the past that they cannot distribute broadband funding. We need to listen. Under different parties, the federal control has been to micromanage and that doesn’t work.
• MN has a long history of self-help. There are examples of locals building broadband. Community-owned/built networks work.
• Broadband is expensive for a community. But broadband is an investment is supporting the community but also in revenue from the broadband network based either on fees collected or fees no longer paid by local government. Also municipal apps that require broadband can save money.
• In MN young people are more likely to stay or move to a rural area if there is broadband in the community.

Questions:

Politics are cyclical. When the winds change, do you think there will be more funding?
No. Broadband funds came (in part) from COVID so unless we see another life-changing event, it seems unlikely.

Please talk about Digital Equity funding loss?
There was $3 billion for 3 digital equity programs: planning for states (that went out), state’s own efforts to get people online and nonprofits that would help across state (that funding was awarded but not distributed). 22 State Attorneys General are looking into how to turn that around.

Ry Marcattillo, ILSR introduces a dashboard tracking local government spending with MN broadband grants over the years.

Glenn Fishbine, Breaking Point Solutions

• Local needs need local maps and data.
• BAT teams would be helpful to get data to map.