Monthly Archives: November 2025

What are the economic benefits of broadband to a household?

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I’m bringing back an old tradition – looking at how much money broadband can save a household right before the holidays set in. I’m bringing back the old tradition with a new spin, I’m using ChatGPT. Something old; something new.

I started with a search on [how much money does a household with broadband save or earn?].

It pulled up some good articles, but they were dated. I will let my age (or Master’s degree in Library and Information Science) show when I admit that I want links to article, not cite-less answers. But I moved forward asking for updated information. Below are the results:

Turns out that much of what I found interesting was from the same research: Economic Benefits of Fiber Deployment, a report prepared for Fiber Broadband Association and Frontier Communications from Nov 2024. The focus is on fiber over all other broadband modes – but was the best I could find in terms of specific saving and earning numbers.

Here’s the quick description of part of the research…

Our study is the first to show that fiber deployment has significant incremental economic benefits even in the presence of other high-speed broadband technologies.

The report looks at broadband savings/earning from the household and national perspective. I thought I’d pull out the details by household.

Related to real estate:

  • It could increase average household values between 14% – 17% depending on
    non-urban versus urban areas.
  • This translates to an average increase of $27,000 – $41,000 per house per year.
  • The effect on housing values in non-urban areas is fives times greater than in
    urban areas and is driven by the greater number of unserved households in non
    urban areas.

Earning:

  • The income effect comes from non-urban areas. U.S. households in non-urban
    areas with new access to fiber will likely experience an increase in their average
    income by $1,450 in one year.

Community Employment:

  • Access to fiber incrementally increases the employment rate by a small but measurable 0.74%. This is equivalent to a 0.5% increase in employment.
  • For a city such as Detroit, with a labor force of approximately 356,408 people,
    deploying fiber to all the unserved households would create 36 new jobs.
  • For a small rural town such as Iron Mountain, Michigan, with a labor force of approximately 4,363 people, deploying fiber to all the unserved households would
    create at least 14 new jobs.

Data Center Forum Follow Up: notes from the South-Central Minnesota Data Center Forum on November 12

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I attended the South-Central Minnesota Data Center Forum earlier this month (and posted notes). Today, with permission, I’m happy to share the official notes from hosts Southern Minnesota Initiative Foundation, Region 9 and SE MN Together.

Thank you for attending the South-Central Minnesota Data Center Forum on Wednesday, November 12th. With over 100 attendees and 6 expert speakers, the event highlighted the desire for education and conversation on this emerging issue. As a follow-up, we have a recorded version of the forum, the slides from our speakers, and their contact information. Feel free to share these resources with people in your network! Additionally, the Southern Minnesota Initiative Foundation and SE MN Together are hosting two additional Data Center Basics 101 events in Spring Grove (Dec.18) and Austin (Jan 14.). Registration for those events is listed below. 

 

Recording: 

 

Panel 1 Speakers 

Thom Jackson, Senior Mechanical Engineer, Dunham Associates  thomas.jackson@dunhameng.com

Carrie Jennings, Research and Policy Director, Freshwater cjennings@freshwater.org

Tim Stoner, General Manager,  Blue Earth Light and Water tim.stoner@belw.org 

Panel 2 Speakers 

Thomas Lambrecht, Economic Development Services Manager, Great River Energy tlambrecht@grenergy.com

Sarah Mooradian, Government Relations & Policy Director, CUREMN sarah@curemn.org 

Andy Wilke, Executive Vice President, Greater Mankato Growth awilke@greatermankato.com

Upcoming Data Center Basics 101 Events 

Data Center Basics 101 – Spring Grove  Thursday, December 18 

Data Center Basics 101 – Austin Wednesday, January 14 

If you have any key takeaways, questions, or feedback from the event that you’d like to share with the event organizers, please don’t hesitate to reach out.

How do Data Centers Impact Dakota County? a Forum held in Farmington MN on August 20, 2025

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I’m slow posting this video. Sometimes you need a 7-hour drive to Chicago to catch up on videos. But the topic still seems timely. It’s from a session on Data Center Forum: Impacts in Dakota County hosted by MN Women’s Press & CRDCD on Aug 20, 2025 in Farmington MN

Here’s their description from YouTube:

How do Data Centers Impact Dakota County? This was a Forum held in Farmington MN on August 20, 2025, co-sponsored by MN Women’s Press and the Coalition for Responsible Data Center Development. Eight panelists were invited to share their knowledge and answer questions. This was a very engaging community discussion that should enlighten any listener interested in learning more about various aspects of the growth of data centers in Minnesota and nationwide.

Thank You to the Panelists! (from left to right)

  • Senator Bill Lieske – District 58
  • Representative Drew Roach – District 58B
  • Patricia Torres Ray – Director of Interfaith Power and Light and Former Senator
  • Sarah Mooradian – CURE
  • Mo Feshami – Member of Coalition
  • Cathy Johnson – Member of Coalition
  • Peter Wagenius – Sierrra Club, North Star Chapter
  • Mikki Morrissette – Editor and producer of MN Women’s Press

Also thank you to Jim Elli, Vanguard Media MN Women’s Press: https://www.womenspress.com/ Coalition for Responsible Data Center Development: https://www.datacenterresponsibility….

House Commerce Democrats tell Administration to implement BEAD Congress intended

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The Benton Institute of Broadband & Society reports on a letter from the House Commerce Committee…

We write to express our significant concerns with the National Telecommunications and Information Administration’s (NTIA) implementation of the Broadband Equity, Access, and Deployment (BEAD) Program under the Trump Administration. It is evident that NTIA’s implementation of the BEAD Program violates the letter of the [Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act] and ignores the intent of Congress, jeopardizing the bipartisan goal of delivering fast, reliable, and affordable internet to everyone in America. We also remind you that any executive order issued by the President cannot override existing laws passed by Congress. This willful departure from the [Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act’s] requirement to consider each technology’s performance and scalability raises serious concerns for multiple reasons. First, neither NTIA nor any Administration official has the authority to ignore the plain language of the statute, let alone Congressional intent. Second, the Trump BEAD Program now resembles the failed 2020 Trump Rural Digital Opportunity Fund (RDOF) program. Third, neither the law nor a directive from the President through an executive order empowers NTIA to impound tens of billions of dollars that Congress authorized and appropriated in full to achieve specific policy outcomes, including universal connectivity, affordability, scalable infrastructure, and broadband adoption. We request that you respond to the following questions in writing by December 12, 2025:

1. Secretary Lutnick promised speed and efficiency in approving states and territories’ final proposals and promised BEAD program funding would be released by the end of 2025. a. Will all states and territories have access to all of their funding by the end of this year?

2. It has been reported that NTIA is using a cost model to determine cost estimates for buildout within each state.

a. Please explain in detail the date and source of data for these models.

b. What exactly is being modeled by this data? For example, is it modeling cost estimates for greenfield fiber builds?

c. How are these data models being applied to each state and territory’s final proposals? Is there a percentage of total cost against which NTIA is benchmarking a state and territory’s final results? Does the benchmark vary by state? Do the benchmarks take into account variations within each state and, if so, how?

d. Cost models are generally used to make predictions about outcomes when actual cost data does not exist. Why does NTIA believe that these cost models are better indicators of costs than the actual competitive bidding processes already conducted by every state?

3. NTIA has overruled states and territories on a granular level by rejecting individual grant awards, forcing states to rebid projects at unreasonably cheap cost thresholds. Please provide a list of all states and territories from which NTIA has rejected project awards or otherwise forced to rebid locations, and for each state or territory provide:

a. A list of all BEAD projects or awards NTIA required to be rebid and the total number of broadband serviceable locations (BSL) in each such award.

b. Each award winner rejected by NTIA, the technology proposed, and cost per passing for each BSL in the rejected award.

c. Each rebid project award winner, the technology proposed, and cost per passing for each BSL in the rebid award.

4. LEO satellite providers face challenges to deliver high-quality connections envisioned by BEAD due to capacity limits, the need for user-end obstructions to be clear, and the potential for performance degradation as more users join a network. Based on final proposals submitted to NTIA to date, reports suggest that more than 750,000 BEAD awards will fund LEO capacity reservation subgrants.

a. For provisionally selected LEO priority broadband projects, what evidence did you require states and territories to show that LEO service can easily scale speeds over time to meet the evolving connectivity needs of households and businesses and support the deployment of 5G, successor wireless technologies, and other advanced services as required by the statute?

b. What, if any, obligation does a LEO provider receiving BEAD funds have to sign up customers for the BEAD funded service? Is the LEO provider entitled to its full BEAD award, even if no BEAD households subscribe?

c. How will NTIA and the state or territory monitor, measure, and ensure LEO subrecipients’ compliance with the BEAD capacity reservation requirements?

d. BEAD subgrants for terrestrial networks will support infrastructure that will be capable of providing high-speed internet service to households in the project area long after those grants are closed out. How will the BEAD capacity reservation grants to LEO providers ensure that households in LEO project areas receive high-speed internet service after those grants close out?

5. The Bipartisan Infrastructure Law specifically authorizes states and territories, after achieving full deployment, to spend remaining funds on other statutorily authorized priorities.

a. When will NTIA provide guidance on the use of non-deployment funds?

b. Has NTIA authorized any state or territory to conduct workforce activities in connection with deployment projects? Given the expected demand for a skilled workforce, has NTIA authorized the use of non-deployment funds to develop a skilled workforce?

c. Is NTIA considering clawing back non-deployment funding, or otherwise withholding allocated funds from states and territories? d. Under what legal authority is NTIA or the Department of Commerce granted the ability to impound BEAD funds, including non-deployment funds?

6. NTIA generally includes special award conditions in its grants, which can cover specific project requirements, financial management, reporting, and other terms that go beyond the general grant conditions.

a. Is NTIA considering any revisions or additions to the special award conditions attached to the state and territory grants in connection with approving final proposals? If so, what are those revisions?

b. Please provide a copy of the final proposal’s general terms and conditions and special award conditions, highlighting any new or revised conditions.

7. The Federal Communications Commission has disclaimed its authority to regulate broadband service, and Congress made clear that nothing in the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law authorizes NTIA to regulate broadband rates. The courts have specifically held that states can regulate the provision of broadband service absent federal authority to do so. You recently stated that, “any state receiving BEAD funds must exempt BEAD providers throughout their state footprint, from broadband-specific economic regulations, such as price regulation and net neutrality.”

a. What is the source of NTIA’s authority to effectively preempt the application of state laws to a provider’s entire state footprint, including locations that are not a part of the BEAD program?

8. The Bipartisan Infrastructure Law specifically requires states and territories to determine the low-cost broadband service definition. Yet, the Policy Notice specifically prohibits states and territories from setting the low-cost service option and instead requires the state or territory to accept any definition established by the subgrantee.

a. How is the Policy Notice’s requirement for subgrantees to determine the low-cost service option consistent with the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law?

b. The Bipartisan Infrastructure Law requires that, upon final proposal approval, you must publish the state’s low-cost broadband definition. It also requires that you establish a website allowing customers to determine whether they are eligible for the BEAD low-cost offer. Will you be making that information available and, if so, when?

White House launches the Genesis Mission to promote and support AI

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The White House announces launch of the Genesis Mission (summary of original borrowed from Benton Institute for Broadband & Society...

America is in a race for global technology dominance in the development of artificial intelligence (AI), an important frontier of scientific discovery and economic growth. In this pivotal moment, the challenges we face require a historic national effort, comparable in urgency and ambition to the Manhattan Project that was instrumental to our victory in World War II and was a critical basis for the foundation of the Department of Energy (DOE) and its national laboratories. This order launches the “Genesis Mission” as a dedicated, coordinated national effort to unleash a new age of AI‑accelerated innovation and discovery that can solve the most challenging problems of this century.  The Genesis Mission will build an integrated AI platform to harness Federal scientific datasets — the world’s largest collection of such datasets, developed over decades of Federal investments — to train scientific foundation models and create AI agents to test new hypotheses, automate research workflows, and accelerate scientific breakthroughs.  The Genesis Mission will bring together our Nation’s research and development resources — combining the efforts of brilliant American scientists, including those at our national laboratories, with pioneering American businesses; world-renowned universities; and existing research infrastructure, data repositories, production plants, and national security sites — to achieve dramatic acceleration in AI development and utilization.  We will harness for the benefit of our Nation the revolution underway in computing, and build on decades of innovation in semiconductors and high-performance computing.  The Genesis Mission will dramatically accelerate scientific discovery, strengthen national security, secure energy dominance, enhance workforce productivity, and multiply the return on taxpayer investment into research and development, thereby furthering America’s technological dominance and global strategic leadership. This executive order:

  • Establishes the Genesis Mission (Mission), a national effort to accelerate the application of AI for transformative scientific discovery focused on pressing national challenges.
  • The Secretary of Energy shall establish and operate the American Science and Security Platform (Platform) to serve as the infrastructure for the Mission with the purpose of providing high-performance computing resources, AI modeling and analysis frameworks, computational tools, domain-specific foundation models, secure access to appropriate datasets, experimental and production tools to enable autonomous and AI-augmented experimentation and manufacturing in high-impact domains.
  • Within 60 days of the date of this order, the Secretary of Energy shall identify and submit to the Assistant to the President for Science and Technology (APST) a detailed list of at least 20 science and technology challenges of national importance that the Secretary assesses to have potential to be addressed through the Mission and that span priority domains.
  • The APST, through the National Science and Technology Council, and with support from the Federal Chief Data Officer Council and the Chief AI Officer Council, shall convene relevant and interested agencies.
  • Within 1 year of the date of this order, and on an annual basis thereafter, the Secretary shall submit a report to the President, through the APST and the Director of the Office of Management and Budget, describing the Platform’s operational status and capabilities.

Bipartisan bill to fast-track broadband expansion by smoothing access to rights of way

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Senator Blackburn’s website reports…

U.S. Senators Marsha Blackburn (R-Tenn.) and Ben Ray Luján (D-N.M.) introduced the bipartisan Broadband and Telecommunications RAIL Act that would streamline the process to deploy telecommunications and broadband equipment in public and railroad rights-of-way. Rights-of-way are the corridors alongside public roads and railroad tracks where utilities can install infrastructure.

“Access to reliable, high-speed telecommunications and broadband is a necessity for working families, schools, and businesses,” said Senator Blackburn. “The Broadband and Telecommunications RAIL Act would cut red tape to streamline the installation of telecommunications and broadband equipment in public and railroad rights-of-way, expanding essential connectivity for rural communities in Tennessee and across America.

“I’m proud to introduce legislation that will make it easier to expand broadband in rural and Tribal communities across New Mexico. Expanding broadband access strengthens local economies and opens the door to better education, job opportunities, and health care,” said Senator Luján, Ranking Member of Commerce Subcommittee on Telecommunications and Media. “With nearly 2,000 miles of freight rail across our state, this bill streamlines broadband construction along rail corridors to help connect regions that have long been underserved.”

Benton looks at WISPs’ place in BEAD

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The Benton Institute for Broadband & Society took a look at whether WISPs are sufficient for BEAD funds…

Sue Marek, Editorial Director of Ookla, has been looking at the speed performance of a variety of broadband technologies over time, including Low-Earth Orbit (LEO) satellite providers. This week, Marek analyzed the performance of eight of the largest U.S. wireless internet service providers (WISPs) over several quarters from Q1 2021 until Q2 2025.

All eight WISPs studied by Ookla improved their speed offerings over the observed period. But are their current speed offerings enough for BEAD?

They take a look at 8 providers representing a variety of WISP setups. You can check out the article for specifics; I’ll just share the results…

Using Speedtest data collected in Q2 2025, Ookla compared the median download and upload speeds of the eight WISPs to determine what percentage of their Speedtest users were receiving the Federal Communications Commission’s minimum standard for fixed broadband speeds (100/20 Mbps).

Ookla found that Starry is able to provide the FCC’s minimum standard for broadband to the highest percentage of users at 66.9 percent. Resound Networks, the second-highest of the eight WISPs and one of those receiving BEAD funds, still only comes in at 41.5 percent of Speedtest users achieving wireless broadband speeds of 100/20 Mbps. Wisper and Nextlink, the other two WISPs to receive BEAD funding, have users achieving 100/20 Mbps speeds at rates of 26.0 percent and 24.4 percent, respectively. The rest of the WISPs have lower percentages, with Rise Broadband being the lowest at just 6.7 percent.

So, according to Ookla’s analysis, most broadband consumers who will receive BEAD-funded fixed-wireless internet access service will not achieve the minimum speeds of 100/20 Mbps.

Of the providers mentioned only one is poised to get BEAD funding in Minnesota:

NextLink BEAD awards: Minnesota: $1,541,073 for 2,401 locations

OPPORTUNITY: Agriculture Research, Education, Extension, And Technology Transfer Advisory Panel

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The Agriculture Research, Education, Extension, And Technology Transfer Advisory Panel is looking for two new members. Here’s more info…

Panel membership includes: one member each as named by the College of Food, Agricultural and Natural Resource Sciences, Minnesota State Colleges and Universities system, Minnesota Farm Bureau, Minnesota Farmers Union, MN Soybean Research and Promotion Council, MN Corn Research and Promotion Council, MN Barley Research and Promotion Council, MN Wheat Research and Promotion Council, MN Sunflower Council, MN Cultivated Wild Rice Council, MN Canola Research and Promotion Council, MN Area 1 Potato Research and Promotion Council, MN Area II Potato Research and Promotion Council, MN Turkey Research and Promotion Council, MN Beef Research and Promotion Council, MN Dairy Research and Promotion Council, MN Dry Edible Bean Research and Promotion Council, MN Pork Board, and Minnesota Indian Affairs Council; four open appointments for one representative each of agriculture industry statewide, an association of primary manufacturers of forest products, organic or sustainable agriculture, and statewide environment and natural resource conservation organizations.
The Panel is advisory to the Commissioner of Agriculture and the College of Food, Agricultural and Natural Resource Sciences at the University of Minnesota on investments to achieve long-term agricultural productivity increases through improved infrastructure, vision, and accountability in agricultural research and technology transfer, agriculture rapid response, and agricultural education.

 

Did your county get any of the $20 million in MN Line Extension grants in the last three rounds?

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Congrats to the counties who have done well getting Line Extension grants. Congrats to the counties who don’t need them. For counties who need help getting better broadband and haven’t been getting Line Extension funding, here’s more information.

The numbers for Line Extension awards by county are now available for the three rounds that have been awarded. For those you don’t wake up Monday looking for the latest updates on MN broadband, I’ll start with a little reminder. Line Extension is a broadband support managed by the Office of Broadband Development. Info on how it works from the Office of Broadband Development…

Residential and business locations that are unserved (lack access to speeds of at least 25Mbps download and 3Mbps upload) can apply by entering their information into the Line Extension Connection portal*. This will initiate their interest in receiving broadband internet service and make their location available for consideration. By submitting your address into the Line Extension Connection portal, internet service providers will have the opportunity to review the location and submit a bid based on the cost to bring service to your location. The Office of Broadband Development will evaluate these bids and required provider documentation and make awards to the providers whose bid proposes the lowest cost to the State for extension of the service.

It helps fill in holes in a community where there’s one household that two miles off the road or maybe the six houses on the “other side” of the lake. In light of promise of federal BEAD funding, Line Extension has been the only focus of state funding for broadband this year.

The Office of Broadband has recently shared updated number of how much each county has received. (You can download the spreadsheet for more information.)

Over three rounds, $20,314,363.07 has been awarded. Below are the grant total awards in order of the amount received by county. A few quick notes: not every county has received awards, because not every county needs the help. (At least 10 MN counties have more than 99 percent broadband coverage, as of last year.) Even in this list, the need is variable. You can learn more about the next round of Line Extension grants from the Office of Broadband Development.

County Grand Total (Dollars)
Becker 2850601.5
St. Louis 2619282.61
Crow Wing 2455450.17
Todd 1943261.7
Wabasha 1182818
Morrison 946640
Pine 735691.19
Mahnomen 722588.48
Aitkin 689620.88
Washington 680789
Wright 603805.31
Winona 472220
Scott 410871.52
Otter Tail 384714.84
Kandiyohi 378273.28
Meeker 318997.39
Dakota 283639.8
Hubbard 265000.94
Anoka 246223
Jackson 200561.6
Clay 200522.72
Hennepin 198769
Stearns 144480
Le Sueur 127288.13
Itasca 126357.54
Cass 97449
Rice 85860.66
Carlton 75958.79
Lyon 75474.94
Yellow Medicine 75474.94
Dodge 73944.5
Renville 72395.54
Mower 71966.49
Carver 65664
Swift 59800
Goodhue 59393.27
Douglas 46361.52
Redwood 41853.6
Lake of the Woods 41427
Big Stone 35000
Lac qui Parle 29000
Chippewa 25500
Martin 23220.72
Sherburne 22482.03
Stevens 20000
Kittson 16375.07
Cottonwood 11292.4

 

Sherburne County to expands Arvig Elk River and Haven/Clear Lake Broadband Grant Program

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The Patriot News reports on Sherburne County business…

The board approved amendments to Arvig Elk River and Haven/Clear Lake Broadband Grant Program agreements

Arvig received ARPA Broadband Access Program grants for several projects in 2023. The Elk River Round #1, Elk River Round #2, and the Clear Lake/Haven Round #2 projects were completed (or are very near to completion) under budget.

Staff recommended utilizing the remaining funds ($453,300) to expand the original scope of each project. The revised project scope would serve an additional 71 passings, which include 10 unserved and 61 underserved properties in Elk River, Haven, and Clear Lake.

Report indicates issues with rural healthcare in rural MN – telehealth his not bridging the gap

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The Timberjay reports…

Rural Minnesota is aging more rapidly than the rest of the state, and northern St. Louis County is part of that trend. Older adults already make up a growing share of the population, outnumbering children in many rural communities. The 2025 Minnesota Rural Health Care Chartbook, released Monday by the Minnesota Department of Health, outlines how that demographic shift is colliding with signs of strain across the rural health care system.

One of the clearest indicators is in emergency medical services. Minnesota saw a net loss of 542 EMS certifications last year, MDH reported, a decline that is being felt most sharply in rural areas. Small departments often have a limited number of responders, so even one or two departures can reduce coverage and extend response times. The trend arrives as the region’s population grows older, increasing the number of medical calls that depend on a prompt EMS response.
That context matters when looking at the report’s findings on stroke care. MDH notes that access to stroke-capable hospitals has improved substantially, with roughly 84 percent of rural residents now living within a 30-minute drive of a designated facility. The expanded hospital readiness is a clear gain, but its effectiveness hinges on the first link in the chain. Without adequate EMS staffing to reach patients quickly, the benefit of having more stroke-ready hospitals within driving distance becomes harder to realize.

Telehealth is mentioned as a possible solution that isn’t living up to potential…

Telehealth, which expanded rapidly during the early years of the pandemic, has not filled the gap as broadly in rural Minnesota as hoped. MDH notes that rural residents used telehealth at lower rates than urban residents over the past year. While the report estimates that around one in ten rural Minnesotans lacks adequate broadband for video visits, the experience within northern St. Louis County suggests the number may be higher in some areas. Broadband access remains inconsistent, and in locations where fiber has not reached, video-based care can be unreliable. The variation limits the effectiveness of telehealth as a substitute for in-person services.

Senator introduces bill to strengthen communications access on tribal lands

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Senator Adam Schiff (D-Calif.) reports…

Today, U.S. Senator Adam Schiff (D-Calif.) and Representative Dr. Raul Ruiz (D-Calif.-25) introduced the Tribal Internet Expansion Act of 2025, legislation to help expand telecommunications and information services to Tribal communities.

“This legislation strengthens the foundation for expanding broadband and telecommunications access to Tribal Lands, supporting the needs of communities to utilize technologies so vital to economic growth and success,” said Senator Schiff. “I’m proud to join Representative Dr. Raul Ruiz in this effort to bridge the digital divide and ensure that this necessary resource is reliable, accessible, and affordable in every region.”

“Access to reliable, high-speed internet is no longer a luxury, it’s a necessity,” said Congressman Ruiz. “For too long, many Tribal communities have been left without the dependable, affordable broadband needed for students to learn, patients to access care, and families to stay safe and economically secure. TheTribal Internet Expansion Act will strengthen the Universal Service Fund, so it better serves Indian Country and helps ensure Tribal Nations have the digital infrastructure they need to fully participate and thrive in today’s online world.”

The Tribal Internet Expansion Act of 2025 will update the Communications Act of 1934 to explicitly include Indian Country and expand essential broadband access to rural, insular, and high-cost Tribal and Indigenous communities. With roughly one in four people on Tribal lands still lacking access to reliable, high-speed internet, the bill helps ensure that federal broadband and telecommunications programs better address persistent connectivity gaps in these historically underserved areas.

Legislative Commission on Data Practices talk about data privacy, retention, health apps and automated license plate readers

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Today, I listened to the Legislative Commission on Data Practices meeting. It felt a little broadband-adjacent at first but the more I listened, the more interested I became. At the root of the discussions is the recognition that the laws are often not keeping up with the technology. Here’s the agenda for the meeting:

  1. Approval of October 15, 2025, Minutes
  2. Modern data privacy best practices around data minimization, retention, and maintenance
  3. Current challenges with data retention
  4. Treatment of geolocation data
  5. Intersection of HIPAA/HITEC, the MN Health Records Act, and the MN Consumer Data Privacy Act
  6. ALPR and Body Camera reporting requirements
  7. Data privacy as it relates to the interplay of state and federal government
  8. Adjourn

I was least focused on data retention portion, but my ears perked up when someone noted that many of the policies in place were written in the 1980s. That’s back when the retained “while you were out” messages left on your desk for a missed call. That helps ground the further conversation to realize that the government is trying to manage privacy and “customer” expectations using technology from 2025 and rules from 1985. And even the legislators talk about having one set of expectations for their personal privacy while wanting to use personal data to improve government processes. It’s a delicate balance.

The discussion included mention of a proposed law on health apps and easier access for parents to help manage kids’ health records, rethinking access to geolocation with an eye toward people using reverse warrants to overzealously observe residents and learning about unintended uses of automated license plate readers.

USTelecom 2025 Pricing Index shows lower costs and higher speeds for broadband

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USTelecom, an industry association, published their 2025 Pricing Index (Lower Bills, Faster Speeds: Family Budgets Get a Boost as Broadband Prices Decline )…

This sixth edition of USTelecom’s Broadband
Pricing Index (BPI) shows U.S. broadband services
have continued a long-running trend of pairing
faster speeds with lower bills. These price declines
stand in sharp contrast to overall U.S. inflation
(CPI-U), which stood at 2.4% from March 2024 to
March 2025.
The continued progress of broadband affordability
and quality over the past year adds to a 10
year record of soaring consumer value. Indeed,
broadband prices for today’s most popular services
(100-940 Mbps) have declined by 43.1% over the
past 10 years, while the cost of overall consumer
goods and services has risen by 35.8%.
As network investment and fiber deployment
continue at near-record levels—$89.6 billion last year alone —U.S. consumers have the powerful dual advantage
of some of the world’s most advanced and increasingly affordable high-speed connections. This connectivity is
foundational so that more Americans can participate in our modern digital economy—from accessing medical
specialists, remote work and educational opportunities to realizing the promise of AI and quantum networks.

Midco Acquires SCI Broadband in Minnesota Network Expansion

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Midco shares…

Today, Midco finalized the acquisition of Savage Communications Inc. (SCI) Broadband, a purchase that expands Midco’s Minnesota network and prepares the company for continued fiber expansion in the state.

“We are excited to officially welcome the SCI Broadband team into the Midco family,” said Midco Chair & CEO Pat McAdaragh. “To our new customers, we are grateful for the opportunity to serve you. Our Midco Customer Commitment extends to each of you, and we look forward to continuing the best-in-class experience the SCI team has provided.”

SCI Broadband was founded in 1984 by Ron Savage and grew to serve nearly 12,000 data customers in central Minnesota. By the end of this year, the network built by SCI will reach nearly 28,000 passings.

“It’s been an honor to grow SCI alongside so many talented team members, and I’m confident the integration of SCI into Midco will serve our customers well,” said SCI Broadband President & Founder Ron Savage. “I’m grateful for the smooth transition and warm welcome our team has received from Midco.”

As part of the acquisition, all SCI team members received a job offer from Midco.

“This acquisition supports Midco’s strategy of fiber expansion, fiber upgrades and convergence,” said Midco President and Chief Operating Officer Ben Dold. “Our fiber expansion will continue in new Minnesota markets in 2026. Meantime, our Beyond Gig upgrades are bringing high-split symmetrical speeds to more homes and businesses across the five-state footprint. Plus, Midco Mobile is on track to launch at the end of the year. It’s been an ambitious year for Midco, and we’re not slowing down in 2026.”

“Over the next three years, we will be making significant investments in the network we acquired from SCI to enhance product offerings for our customers,” said Midco Senior VP of Technology Bill Chatwell. “These investments include fiber-to-the-premises upgrades with higher speed tiers in the legacy coax service areas, the introduction of our advanced IPTV-based video product MidcoTV and enhancing the core network to offer our full suite of residential and business products.”