From the Office of Broadband Development…
Broadband Matters: Office of Broadband Development Updates
- Broadband Task Force, meeting in November
- Line Extension Connection Program update
- BEAD updates + news
- OBD in the field!
Broadband Task Force, meeting in November
The Broadband Task Force will be meeting on Thursday November 13 at 10am. This meeting will be held virtually and is open to anyone from the public to attend. The Teams link to join the meeting will be included at the top of the meeting agenda, which is posted along with other information on past meetings on the Broadband Task Force webpage.
More information on this and past meetings can be found on the Broadband Task Force webpage.
OBD expects the round to have $3.5M in Capital Projects Fund (CPF) dollars available to grant. Information and resources on Line Extension are posted to the OBD Line Extension Connection Program webpage. OBD also expects to run a fifth round of Line Extension with state project funds.
While the window for residential and business sign-ups to be included in the bidding for Round 4 of the Line Extension Connection Program has closed, registration will remain open for future rounds if and as funding is available.
Questions on Line Extension can be sent to deed.broadband@state.mn.us or (651)-259-7610.
BEAD updates + news
As required by the Broadband Equity Access and Deployment (BEAD) Program, the Minnesota OBD submitted its Final Draft Proposal to the National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA), including the Assistant Secretary of the U.S. Department of Commerce, on September 4, 2025. NTIA has committed to review and approve plans in 90 days. OBD will continue to revise and update the documents as required by NTIA and as is necessary to ensure all BEAD eligible locations are served as defined by the policy notice. Updated and additional information for BEAD in Minnesota will be posted to the OBD BEAD webpage.
BEAD has been featured nationally in the news, including two October 2025 reports from the Advance Communications Law & Policy Institute (ACLP) finding that BEAD is on track to end with $21 billion in leftover funds, and one million locations might remain unserved post-BEAD.
OBD in the field!
Over the past two months, OBD staff have gone on site visits for Arvig, Federated Rural Electric and Broadband, Woodstock Communications, Consolidated Telephone Company (CTC), JTN Communications, KMTelecom, Nuvera, Comcast, and Albany Mutual Telephone Association projects.
Earlier this week, OBD Executive Director Bree Maki attended the National Rural Telecommunications Council’s (NRTC) TechConnect 2025 and spoke on the panel Funding the Future: BEAD Insights, Lessons Learned and Post-Award Compliance.