From the Office of Broadband Development… (I plan to post each event separately too, just so folks are sure to see them)

Broadband Matters: Office of Broadband Development Updates

• December webinar + BEAD updates
• Line Extension Connection Program update
• Broadband Task Force, December meeting plans
• Broadband National Expo, State Showcase – Minnesota’s Collaborative Approach to Broadband Deployment

December webinar + BEAD updates

OBD will be hosting a webinar, Minnesota Broadband Updates on Wednesday December 17 at 11am to recap Broadband Equity, Access and Deployment (BEAD) efforts in 2025 and go over next steps for what the OBD expects for broadband grant programs going into 2026. This webinar is open to the public and will be recorded and posted to the OBD BEAD webpage. Registration is available below.

The National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) continues to announce approved Final Proposals for BEAD, which can be followed from NTIA’s BEAD Progress Dashboard. OBD expects approval will come through soon, and will be in-line with NTIA’s timeline of reviewing and approving proposals within 90 days of when the Final Proposal was submitted. Minnesota submitted the BEAD Final Proposal to NTIA on September 4, 2025.

Continue to watch for updates! The OBD BEAD webpage will be undergoing changes, along with new and additional resources being added.

Line Extension Connection Program update

The Round 4 Line Extension bidding window closed on November 25, 2025.

OBD is evaluating the bids submitted during Round 4 and expects to announce award decisions soon. Updates will be posted to the OBD Line Extension Connection Program webpage.

While the window for residential and business sign-ups to be included in the bidding for Round 4 of the Line Extension Connection Program closed, registration will remain open for future rounds if and as funding is available. OBD expects to run a fifth round of Line Extension with state project funds.

Questions on Line Extension can be sent to deed.broadband@state.mn.us or (651)-259-7610.

Broadband Task Force, December meeting plans

The Broadband Task Force will be meeting on Thursday December 18 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 will be posted along with other information on past meetings on the Broadband Task Force webpage.

Broadband National Expo, State Showcase – Minnesota’s Collaborative Approach to Broadband Deployment

OBD’s Executive Director, Bree Maki, attended the Broadband National Expo in Orlando Florida, and spoke on the November 20th panel, State Showcase – Minnesota’s Collaborative Approach to Broadband Deployment, alongside Joe Buttweiler (Chief Strategy Officer, CTC) and Brent Christensen (President/CEO,
Minnesota Telecom Alliance), pictured below.

Minnesota is proud of it’s collaborative partnerships and is continuing to see success by these efforts.