MN Broadband Task Force June 2026: BEAD from the Provider POV and info Mayo Clinic database of socioeconomic data by location

Posted on by

The Minnesota Broadband Task Force heard from local providers who are going through the BEAD process and from members of the Office of Broadband Development. It sounds like folks are ready and are (still) waiting for deployment to begin. The Task Force also heard an overview of the Mayo Clinic HOUSES Index, a tool developed to provide individual-level socioeconomic measure with relevancy to broadband and exploration of potential benefits. They have a database that tracks a large number of details based on location and patient (removing identifying info), which means you can get longitudinal information on individuals as well as access based on location. It is used for a number of applications from homelessness to healthcare and could be used to track broadband adoption.

10:00 a.m. – 10:05 a.m. – Welcome from Teddy Bekele, Chair, Minnesota Governor’s Task Force on Broadband and approval of minutes from May Task Force meeting.

10:05 a.m. – 10:50 a.m. – Presentation featuring BEAD updates and overviews from Christopher Lord, Sr. Director, Government Partnership Opportunities, Mediacom and Kathy Lund, Vice President of Technical Services, Nuvera.
Followed by additional updates from the Office of Broadband Development’s Jennifer Frost, State/Federal Programs and Compliance Manager, and Megan Messerole, Broadband Environmental/Land Use Coordinator. Office of Broadband Development overview and updates from Bree Maki (Executive Director, OBD).

Mediacom

  • Active in BEAD – awarded 800-1000 miles of broadband in MN over the next 4 years.
  • In final design and working through contracts
  • Excited to get started
  • Working on pre-contracting. Getting ready for NEPA requirements. Working on clearing federal hurdles
  • Starting outreach to local partners for permitting
  • St Louis County has 450 miles

Q: How can we help you?
MN OBD is most responsive. Big concern is the NEPA (environmental) process. It’s daunting and new. The OBD environmental person is great. Waiting is a big challenge.
Q: When do you hope to start?
Hoping for 90-120 days after contracting. Bigger projects will take longer.
Q: If you need help in St Louis County – I’ve got you. (From one TF member.)
Hosting a meeting in Duluth to talk about the process with stakeholders.
Q: What about the cost of BEAD restrictions (with Buy America et al)?
We need to be sensitive to costs. We watch closely. We did have to increase pricing to accommodate the parameters of the funds. Connectivity is top priority. Cost of supplies is difficult to predict. We haven’t seen a shortage in fiber yet – and we can’t buy until we are assured of funds. There will likely be shortages when everyone gets cleared for BEAD.

Nuvera

  • Regional service provider in Southern MN. Public company.
  • Awarded 7 BEAD projects in rural areas for $25M – build cost is $35M for 1900 locations or $18,000 per passing
  • Experience with PBD has been excellent. They have experience and staff.
  • Timing has been an issue. The program started in 2021 -and rules have changed. We thought we’d have started deploying by now
  • We are doing permitting and staking on 3 projects right now. Hesitant to buy materials too early. Need to do contracts before permits
  • Trying to have contractors engaged without being able to full commit has been tricky.

Q: What about communications?
Tough to put out information too soon when we don’t have deadlines.

Jenn Frost (OBD)

  • We are in pre-contracting
  • Have terrestrial contact approved. Working on LEO capacity contracts.
  • Asking folks to work on prepping
  • Timeline: We were so excited in 2021. But it’s taking longer. Most programs will get started in 2027.
  • It’s been one year since the new rules came out. Got approval Feb 2026.
  • There have been changes and starts and stops but we’re making progress thoughtfully as things continue to change
  • Precontracting, Finalizing plans. Project plan finalization (budget and schedules molded into NTIA reporting formatting). NTIA just updated reporting formats
  • Some grantees have had to drop out – maybe the locations have been served or maybe project no longer feasible given changes. We need to address all the locations before we move forward. That should wrap up by next week.
  • We are asking for a 60-day extension.

Q: What are FAQs?
Not a lot of questions at this point. Folks are busy updating information. Questions were about the unknown – but we can’t answer that because we don’t know either.
Q: Are things set in stone now?
No. Some changes are additive. Some contradict previous changes.

Meghan – Environmental (OBD)

  • Trying to get everything ready
  • Providers helped compile and combine data to define MEPA projects
  • Working through exclusions, contracts and approvals
  • Focusing on final NEPA decision for each project
  • We have a volunteer pilot provider to test the process
  • Waiting on tribal consultation
  • OBD is hosting upcoming webinars – Webinar info for the July 8 session is on the OBD page! Webinars and Recorded Events / Minnesota Department of Employment and Economic Development

Q: What are the bigger challenges?
Scope changes.

Bree (OBD)

  • The team is dedicated and so are the provider partners
  • BEAD: Trying to do tribal outreach
  • Did Line Extension award – projects must be done by end of year
  • Capitol Project funds will hopefully help finance more Line Extension – for folks who can finish the project by the end of the year
  • Border to Border annual reporting will happen at the end of June
  • Existing grants are staying busy – all 228 active projects
  • NTTA conference is next week. – National Tribal Telecommunications Association (NTTA) Midwest Region Tribal Broadband Summit, June 22-24 at Mystic Lake Casino Hotel in Prior Lake, MN: https://web.cvent.com/event/8c0efe2e-3de3-44bc-8633-bac65382a4e7/summary?utm_id=97758_v0_s00_e0_tv2…

11:00 a.m. – 11:45 a.m. – Overview of HOUSES Index, a tool developed to provide individual-level socioeconomic measure with relevancy to broadband and exploration of potential benefits from:

  • Young Juhn, MD, MPH, Mayo Clinic, Professor of Pediatrics | Research Chair of Mayo Clinic Health Systems | Director of the Artificial Intelligence Program of Mayo Clinic Children | Director of Precision Population Science Lab and HOUSES Program
  • Chung Wi, MD, Mayo Clinic, Associate Professor of Pediatrics| Co-Director, AI Validation and Stewardship Program, Mayo Clinic Health System| Associate Director, Mayo Clinic Children’s AI Program| Associate Director, Precision Population Science Lab and the HOUSES Program | Department of Pediatric and Adolescent Medicine
  • Dale Shim, MBA, Mayo Clinic, Head of Commercialization & Strategic Partnerships

Opening Remarks

  • May clinic has a platform to address question of broadband
  • 10 percent of MN doesn’t have access to broadband
  • But even outside of that 10 percent, people choose not to adopt
  • HOUSES provides data to a more granular level about why based on socioeconomic status.

Q: How can you tell if the hiccup in access telehealth is really access and not some other barrier?
Some studies have been done with telephone, which provides some indication

Q: When you look at screening (such as with cancer) can you see financial benefits of prevention?
We are looking at that. We are looking at Medicaid population right now and we have seen some predictive power.
Q: Maybe we could do healthcare literacy too
Q: Is there a correlation between proximity to healthcare and going to the doctor?
That is something we could look at. We have a mobile unit to provide healthcare access to remote areas.
Q: What can we do with folks who can’t afford or don’t have skills to use broadband? The library would like to play a part.
Libraries could be good partners. We could do studies to see how close folks are to libraries to get access or maybe track impact of libraries with digital inclusion programs.

Links from the chat:

12:00 p.m. – 12:15 p.m. – Open the floor to other business, reminder on no meeting in July, and meeting wrap-up.

This entry was posted in Conferences by Ann Treacy. Bookmark the permalink.

About Ann Treacy

Librarian who follows rural broadband in MN and good uses of new technology (blandinonbroadband.org), hosts a radio show on MN music (mostlyminnesota.com), supports people experiencing homelessness in Minnesota (elimstrongtowershelters.org) and helps with social justice issues through Women’s March MN.

Leave a Reply