Today the Office of Broadband Development gave a presentation this afternoon to MN Senate Committee…
Wednesday, February 18th, 2026 03:00 PM
Committee on Agriculture, Veterans, Broadband, and Rural Development
Chair: Sen. Aric Putnam
Location: 1150 Minnesota Senate Bldg.Agenda
Office of Broadband Development – Update on State Programs and BEAD
*Note I will change the video when it is archived, in the meantime, OBD starts about an hour into the video
Here are the questions:
- 50 communities were telecommuter Forward? What is that?
It’s a special designation that comes with some resources. - What’s up with satellite? I understand when the State invests in fiber but not so much satellite.
The providers get paid by milestones. That does look different for LEO. - Does that mean we pay people’s bills?
We’re paying for capacity. Not bills. NTIA defines LEOs as part of that infrastructure investment. It is a question people ask because technically everyone already has satellite. - What’s up with AI regulation and broadband funding?
There are terms and conditions that we are working through with the legal team to ensure that we can deploy without fear of crossing the lines. - Is MN compliant with AI regulations for current Admin?
NTIA have given themselves until March 11 to define “onerous AI” – we should know more after that. - Can people submit to Line Extension offline?
We take applications by paper and phone.
The slides below can also be found in the PDF mentioned above. (I just think it’s easier to see here in graphic form.)
