Category Archives: Cooperatives

Paul Bunyan Communications expanding broadband near Ash Lake (St Louis County)

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The Iron Range Resources & Rehabilitation Board (IRRRB) email newsletter, The Ranger, reports…

Paul Bunyan Communications (PBC) is currently extending one of the fastest rural all-fiber optic networks in the United States, the GigaZone™ to approximately 66 unserved households in an area around Ash Lake in rural northwestern St. Louis County (SLC). The locations will soon have access to fiber optic fast broadband with speeds up to 10 Gbps, along with voice telephone services. Iron Range Resources & Rehabilitation supported the project with a $101,000 Broadband Infrastructure grant to PBC. SLC also provided funding. Total project investment is estimated at $270,000.
The project area is about 15 miles north of Orr and 25 miles south of Ray near US Highway 53. Because the entire project area was considered unserved, it likely would have never received basic broadband service without external assistance. The Ash Lake project has approximately four miles of mainline fiber optic cable and is scheduled to be completed in December.
The 66 locations that will receive new service only had access to internet speeds below 10 Mbps, if any. SLC is Minnesota’s largest county at over 6,200 square miles in size and has the highest number of unserved households in the state.
“This project will give the people and homes access to the fastest internet speeds available, both upload and download speeds up to 10 Gig,” said Steve Howard, Paul Bunyan Communications’ IT & Development Manager. “It will be a huge service improvement for everyone in the project area. In addition to the 66 locations passed, Paul Bunyan Communications was able to leverage the fiber installed to provide services to mobile phone towers. The expanded mobile phone coverage will greatly improve communications throughout the area.”
The GigaZone™ not only provides the capacity to handle current communication technologies quickly and efficiently, but it will also meet the increasing demands of the next generation of broadband innovations. For example, initially the network provided a maximum speed of 1 Gigabit per second, but the technology advanced by 2021 so that the cooperative can now offer speeds up to 10 Gigabits per second.
Paul Bunyan Communications started as a telephone cooperative in 1952 and has grown into the largest broadband cooperative in Minnesota serving over 6,000 square miles throughout most of Beltrami County and portions of Cass, Hubbard, Itasca, Koochiching, and St. Louis Counties. In addition to fiber optic fast Internet speeds up to 10 Gig powered by the GigaZone™, the cooperative offers television services, digital voice services, Residential and Business IT services, and is also the home of northern Minnesota’s certified Apple Service Centers in Bemidji and Grand Rapids.
Email Whitney Ridlon or call her at 218-735-3004 for Broadband Infrastructure grant information.

More info on Lismore Cooperative’s MN State Broadband awards in Nobles County

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The Worthington Globe reports…

People living in rural Nobles County are about to get an assist through Lismore Cooperative Telephone Company’s massive fiber broadband project, which recently received a USDA ReConnect grant of $13.68 million, paired with a loan of $5.72 million.

The project could provide high-speed broadband to 3,839 people, 127 businesses, 679 farms and one educational facility, said Nobles County Commissioner Gene Metz, who is also involved with the Lismore Cooperative Telephone Company.

The project began about three years ago when the company put in a fiber ring and fed the fiber signals to about a dozen different towers, which in turn pushed out a wireless signal.

More details…

The total estimated cost of the project will be $27.37 million, meaning local funds need to cover the remaining $7.96 million. The Nobles County Board of Commissioners initially committed $2 million in wind production tax money to the project, but the co-op didn’t get the grant the first time it applied. The county re-committed its $2 million, with an additional $1 million from its reserves and another $250,000 each year for four years.

EVENT Aug 31: Paul Bunyan Communications and Leech Lake Band of Ojibwe Affordable Connectivity Program Sign Up

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An invitation from Paul Bunyan Communications…

Paul Bunyan Communications and the Leech Lake Band of Ojibwe are holding a sign-up day for the Affordable Connectivity Program on Thursday, August 31 from 10 a.m.-2 p.m. at Cass Lake Boys and Girls Club.

The Affordable Connectivity Program will help to lower the cost of broadband service for eligible households struggling to afford internet service and provides a discount of up to a $30 per month toward broadband service for eligible households and up to $75 per month for qualifying households on qualifying Tribal lands.

A household is eligible if one member of the household meets at least one of the criteria below:

  • Has an income that is at or below 200% of the Federal Poverty Guidelines;
  • Participates in certain assistance programs, such as SNAP, Medicaid, Federal Public Housing Assistance, SSI, WIC, or Lifeline;
  • Participates inone of several Tribal specific programs, such as Bureau of Indian Affairs General Assistance, Tribal Head Start (only households meeting the relevant income qualifying standard) Tribal TANF, or Food Distribution Program on Indian Reservations;
  • Is approved to receive benefits under the free and reduced-price school lunch program or the school breakfast program, including through the USDA Community Eligibility Provision;
  • Received a Federal Pell Grant during the current award year; or

Eligible households can enroll at the sign-up event, through a participating broadband provider, or by going to http://www.getinternet.gov to submit an online application or print a mail-in application and contacting their preferred participating broadband provider and selecting a plan.  Additional information about the Emergency Broadband Benefit is available at http://www.getinternet.gov or by calling 877-384-2575 between 9 a.m. and 9 p.m. ET any day of the week.

Reforms in ReConnect to help more broadband providers access funds to serve rural areas

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There’s a push in the US Senate to offer resources to help rural communities get broadband funding by offering opportunities to help smaller providers, cooperatives, local governments and nonprofits…

U.S. Senators Michael Bennet (D-Colo.) and Ted Budd (R-N.C.) introduced the Connecting Our Neighbors to Networks and Ensuring Competitive Telecommunications (CONNECT) Act of 2023 to reform the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) ReConnect Loan and Grant Program. The CONNECT Act makes it easier for small providers to apply to this program, and ensures federal funding reaches rural communities faster by shortening required permitting deadlines. ??U.S. Representatives Brittany Pettersen (D-Colo.) and Juan Ciscomani (R-Ariz.) will introduce companion legislation in the U.S. House of Representatives. …

Specifically, the CONNECT Act would:

  • Establish an Office of Technical Assistance to aid eligible providers with application forms;

  • Create a Mini-Grant Program offering grants up to $20,000 for small providers;

  • Prioritize applications from local governments, nonprofit organizations, or cooperatives;

  • Designate rural areas that receive broadband service via non-wireline technology as eligible for ReConnect funding;

  • Shorten certain permitting deadlines for USDA-funded broadband projects from 270 to 180 days;

  • Create an interagency Broadband Council to recommend uniform speed and application requirements for federal programs; and

  • Expand federal easements for certain electric utilities to enable them to lease existing fiber capacity.

Broadband cooperative provider Paul Bunyan Communications returns $3.2M to members

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Red Lake Nation News reports on Paul Bunyan Communications…

Paul Bunyan Communications is returning over $3.2 million to its members in 2023, the cooperative announced today.

Paul Bunyan Communications is a not-for-profit company that strives to provide the highest quality service at the most affordable rates. As a cooperative, membership in Paul Bunyan Communications includes the opportunity to share in the financial success of the company. When profits are earned, they are allocated to the members based on their proportional share of the allocable revenues. These allocations may then be returned to the individual members through capital credit retirements.

And a bit about their broadband business…

“The state of our cooperative remains strong. We are the largest broadband cooperative in Minnesota with over 28,000 active members throughout our 6,000 square mile service territory. We have been very busy building and expanding one of the largest all-fiber optic rural Gigabit networks in the country, the GigaZone®, which is revolutionizing the way members live, work, and play. It is rewarding to see all those efforts continue to pay off and return these profits to our membership” said Gary Johnson, Paul Bunyan Communications CEO/General Manager.

“For over 70 years we have been providing the latest in technology at cost. There is no membership fee to join Paul Bunyan Communications and there are no annual membership dues. All you need to do is subscribe to either one line of local phone or Broadband Internet service and you become a member. You get the latest in technology backed up by our talented team of over 160 local employees that all live and work here” added Dave Schultz, Paul Bunyan Communications Chief Financial Officer.

More details on Meeker (County) Cooperative ReConnect fiber project in Litchfield

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I reported on the funding for the Meeker Cooperative fiber buildout to Litchfield in May (2023), KWLM provides a few more details…

An area broadband project is getting federal funding. The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Rural Development State Director in Minnesota Colleen Landkamer announces $48.5 million in grants and loans to connect thousands of rural residents, farmers and business owners in rural Minnesota to reliable, affordable high-speed internet. …

In additions to projects in Cass and Fillmore Counties, Meeker Cooperative Light & Power Association will connect nearly 500 people, 124 farms, 16 businesses, and one educational facility to high-speed internet in Kandiyohi, Meeker and Stearns counties.

More about NTIA’s WI-based Dairyland award helping MN Counties too

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Last week, I reported on the Dairyland Power getting an NTIA awards to serve counties in Wisconsin (primarily), Iowa and Minnesota. Wis Business posted more about the project…

The National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) has awarded a $14.89 million Middle Mile Broadband Infrastructure Grant to Dairyland Power Cooperative to expand internet access in underserved rural communities.

Dairyland applied for the grant in 2022 to support the communities served by its member cooperatives in rural Wisconsin, Minnesota and Iowa. Through this grant, 240 miles of Dairyland’s transmission network will be retrofitted with optical ground wire (OPGW) during its Tri-State Fiber Deployment Project. The majority of the fiber optic installation is expected to be completed within two years.

CTC saves money and keeps people safe with broadband self installation kits

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According to a press release from Calix, CTC has created a cool self-installation strategy…

Calix, Inc. (NYSE: CALX) announces that Minnesota-based, member-driven cooperative Consolidated Telephone Company (CTC) innovated a groundbreaking self-installation strategy, Broadband in a Box™, that more than doubled subscriber growth. CTC developed and launched the strategy by leveraging the award-winning Revenue EDGE™ on the Calix platform, which includes Calix GigaSpire® BLAST systems, managed services, Calix Marketing Cloud (Marketing Cloud), and Calix Support Cloud (Support Cloud). To further accelerate the success of this strategy, CTC also partnered with Calix Premier Customer Success (Premier Success). Initially driven by the pandemic-era need for contactless support, Broadband in a Box enabled new members to get set up with their CTC Complete Wi-Fi service quickly—without the need for a member services technician to visit their home. The innovative approach proved wildly popular. With 95 percent engagement for Broadband in a Box, CTC accelerated their market expansion into Cherry Township, Minnesota, delivering their services to new homes and businesses in mere days. Annual new subscriber growth rates have jumped from 6.5 percent to nearly 14 percent.

Because Support Cloud enables their team to solve most self-installation issues remotely, CTC immediately lowered operational expense (OPEX), reducing unnecessary truck rolls 50 percent. To ensure they continue to understand and meet their subscribers’ needs, CTC recently worked with Calix Business Insights Services to run a Net Promoter Score℠ (NPS®) survey. The result was an exemplary score of 69, with almost half of CTC “promoters” citing customer support as the primary reason for their glowing ratings.

You can check out the press release for the technical details, but I want to point out that, as I recall, the impetus for innovation was wanting to get people the broadband they needed during a pandemic while keeping both the installers and new customers healthy.

East Central Energy (ECE) starts fiber construction in Dalbo, Ogilvie, Braham and Pine City (Isanti and Kanabec Counties)

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Isanti-Chisago County Star reports…

East Central Energy is proud to announce that construction for ECE Fiber started on May 8, 2023. Construction will consist of installing both overhead and underground fiber lines, starting in the Dalbo area before moving to Ogilvie, Braham, and Pine City throughout the remainder of the year.

The cooperative first explored providing fiber internet services in 2019 but it wasn’t until November 2021 that the ECE Board of Directors made the decision to move forward with a full fiber-to-the-home project. Since then, the co-op has developed ECE Fiber and is advancing toward bringing reliable internet services to some of the most underserved counties in Minnesota and Wisconsin.

This is big news for an area that’s been working on broadband for a long time. Last year Isanti and Kanabec Counties were in the bottom 10 served counties in Minnesota. ECE has been working hard to make it happen…

Fiber construction is scheduled to take place over the next five years, covering all of ECE’s service territory. Construction plans have been confirmed for 2023 and are in motion until the ground freezes later this year. Moving forward, ECE Fiber will solidify areas each summer to be constructed in the following year and updates will be shared on ecefiber.com….

ECE members are encouraged to visit ecefiber.com and sign up to express interest in fiber internet services, and to review package tiers and prices. By signing up online, members will be notified as ECE gets closer to building in their area and receive updates via email.

 

Paul Bunyan Communication to bring Gigazone to Grand Rapids, Warba, Marble, Calumet, and Waukenabo Township in Aitken County

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Big news from Paul Bunyan Communications for Aitken County…

Paul Bunyan Communications will be expanding its all-fiber optic network the GigaZone®, in 2023 to over 2,500 more locations in areas of south Grand Rapids, Warba, Marble, Calumet, and Waukenabo Township in Aitken County.
“We are excited to continue our efforts to bring gigabit broadband Internet to those currently without reliable Internet access in our region. Internet access is no longer a luxury, it is a vital component of everyday life and our cooperative continues to expand our network to bring this essential access to more homes and businesses right here in northern Minnesota” said Gary Johnson, Paul Bunyan Communications CEO/General Manager.
Anyone interested in getting connected to the all-fiber optic broadband network should sign up for service now. That can be done online, over the phone, or in person at our Grand Rapids Customer Service & Technology Center. To check to see if a specific location is within an expansion area, visit https://paulbunyan.net/gigazone/availability-map/ Paul Bunyan Communications will be also mailing more information to those within the 2023 plans as construction is about to begin in their area. Construction will take place over the summer with services expected to be available by winter.
“This will be a huge service improvement for everyone in the project areas. It is very challenging for those who don’t have true high-speed internet available at their home or business. As more and more students and employees work from home, many people are learning how critical upload speed is for their job or school work. Unlike many other providers, our speeds are symmetric, the same speeds are available for upload and download. This will be a game changer for these areas.” added Steve Howard, Paul Bunyan Communications Information Technology and Development Manager.
The cooperative’s services will become available once the network is operational including GigaZone™ Internet with its unprecedented broadband speeds of up to 10 Gig and low cost unlimited local and long distance GigaZone™ voice telephone service. There is no membership fee to join Paul Bunyan Communications, membership is included by subscribing to either local phone service or GigaZone™ Internet service.

Last year Aitken County ranked 77 out of 87 for MN broadband county ranking with 5527 households unserved. This deployment will make a difference!

4,000+ Attend GigaZone Gaming Championship in Bemidji MN

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News of the GigaZone Games makes me happy every year…

An estimated crowd of over 4,000 attended the GigaZone Gaming Championship & TechXpo on Saturday, April 22 at the Sanford Center. The event featured free gaming, numerous gaming tournaments, over 35 technology exhibitors, door prizes, and special guest Steve Wozniak, the co-founder of Apple. This one-of-a-kind regional gaming event showcases Paul Bunyan Communications’ IT and web development team which custom built and integrated much of the online technology and leverages the speed of the GigaZone one of the largest rural all-fiber optic Gigabit networks in the country. The entire event was run off a single residential GigaZone Internet connection.
Mathew Wagner of Duluth won the 6th annual GigaZone Gaming Championship and the top prize of $500. Shawn
Haines of Grand Forks secured second place and $400. A total of 76 of northern Minnesota’s best Super Smash Bros.
Ultimate players competed on the main stadium stage in the GigaZone Championship Arena.
In addition to the Super Smash Bros. Ultimate Tournament, there was several other open tournaments including Fortnite, Mario Kart 8 Deluxe, Madden 23, and Overwatch 3v3, Rocket League 3vs3 plus high score competitions in Pac-Man, Galaga, and Donkey Kong. There were also two tournaments for juniors 13 and Magic the Gathering Booster Drafts, “Wow. When we first envisioned this event, we wanted to grow it so we could have a true arena e-sports event. Never in my wildest dreams did I think it would grow so fast and that we would have Steve Wozniak the co-founder of Apple join us. It has been incredible to see the attendance and enthusiasm for the event! By adding the TechXpo, we were able to connect a wide variety of students and potential job seekers with schools and businesses that are utilizing the latest in technology every day right here in northern Minnesota. It was awesome to see so many people from all over come for the fun!” said Gary Johnson, Paul Bunyan Communications CEO/General Manager.
“Our cooperative continues to expand one of the largest rural fiber gigabit networks in the country and that brings many advantages to our members. The GigaZone provides extreme speed and low latency which are critical for the best online gaming experience and the GigaZone Gaming Championship & TechXpo showcases just that,” added Leo Anderson, Paul Bunyan Communications Technology Experience Manager.
“A huge shout out to our entire team for putting on one of the most unique events of this type in the country. Thank you to all of the exhibitors that were a part of the first ever TechXpo and our local partners, we couldn’t do this without them. We’re already looking forward to next year!” added Brian Bissonette, Paul Bunyan Communications Marketing
Supervisor.
This Paul Bunyan Communications event includes the talents of many local partners including NLFX, Accidently Cool Games, Northern Amusement, the Sanford Center as well support from several regional and national partners.
For more information on the GigaZone Gaming Championship visit www.gigazonegaming.com 

EVENT Mar 29: MN Senate to debate Omnibus that includes broadband funding

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At this time of year, meetings are always subject to change but here’s what I have seen:

The meeting in hybrid, so you can join online or in person. Yesterday at the MN Broadband Task Force, we heard about the need to get state funding because the big federal funding (BEAD) is not going to cover the costs of getting sufficient broadband to everyone AND because that funding will not be released for several years, which means Minnesota will miss some construction seasons if we don’t get state funding.

EVENT March 27: MN Broadband Task Force final meeting

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The last meeting of this iteration of the MN Broadband Task Force happens tomorrow…

Governor’s Task Force on Broadband

Monday, March 27, 2023

10:00 a.m. – 12:30 p.m.

Comcast

10 River Park Plaza

St. Paul, MN  55107

use main entrance, plenty of free parking

 

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Meeting ID: 231 380 665 63
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10:00 a.m. – 10:05 a.m.  Welcome, Task Force Introductions, and Approval of Minutes from February 22 meeting – Teddy Bekele, Chair, Minnesota Governor’s Task Force on Broadband

10:05 a.m. – 10:15 a.m. Welcome from Comcast –  Kalyn Hove, Regional Senior Vice President, Midwest Region

10:15 a.m. – 10:20 a.m. Legislative Update – Deven Bowdry, Government Relations Coordinator for DEED

10:20 a.m. – 10:40 a.m. Office of Broadband Development Update – Bree Maki, Executive Director

10:40 a.m. – 11:00 a.m. NTIA update – Tom Karst, Federal Program Officer, Office of Internet Connectivity and Growth

11:00 a.m. – 11:15 a.m.  Break

11:15 a.m. – 11:45 a.m. National Skills Coalition Digital Equity Presentation – Amanda Bergson-Shilcock, Senior Fellow, National Skills Coalition

11:45 a.m. – 12:15 p.m. “Around the Table -Thoughts of Wisdom” from the outgoing Task Force members

12:15 p.m. – 12:20 p.m.  Public Comment, Other Business, Wrap-up

12:20 p.m. – 1:00 p.m.  Lunch

Broadband expanding in Cuyuna Range area (Crow Wing County)

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The Iron Range Resources & rehabilitation enewsetter, The Ranger, reports…

Consolidated Telephone Company (CTC) is expanding its broadband fiber optic network to approximately 500 unserved or underserved homes, businesses and community institutions within the Cuyuna Lakes area. All locations will have a minimum service of 250mbps download and upload, with service of 1Gbps download and upload available. Iron Range Resources & Rehabilitation supported the project with a $742,850 Broadband Infrastructure grant to CTC. The total project investment is over $5.7 million.
“The existing communications infrastructure throughout the Cuyuna Range is outdated and does not meet the needs and demands of families, schools or businesses,” said Joe Buttweiler, CTC’s chief strategy officer. “This became very apparent with the onset of the pandemic and during the past three years when education, health care and the overall economy became incredibly reliant on broadband.”
The three largest employers in the area are Cuyuna Regional Medical Center, Crosby-Ironton School District and Graphic Packaging International. They represent industries that have come to depend on fast, reliable broadband for daily operations as well as providing online services such as telehealth and distance learning.
Buttweiler explained that access to broadband is as imperative today as electricity was 75 years ago. A reliable fiber optic network is the backbone necessary to provide rural residents, businesses, schools, community centers, remote workers, farmers and visitors with access to the benefits of unlimited bandwidth, cost efficiency and reliability. Residents in the Cuyuna Lakes service area do not currently have access to quality or affordable internet service for everyday needs and essential services.
CTC’s network infrastructure is anticipated to evolve into the future. The newly serviced locations from the project will have the capability to be upgraded and grow with CTC as it works toward broadband services of 2, 5 or even 10Gb.
Other project partners include the State of Minnesota’s Community Development Block Grant (CDBG)-CV Broadband Grant, Crow Wing County and CTC.
CTC is a member-owned cooperative established in 1952 and based in Brainerd, with additional offices in Baxter and Crosby. It has 16,000 residential and business members and 75 employees that serve as local support teams across northern Minnesota. It originated as a telephone service provider and has since added television and internet services for homes, businesses, cabins and apartment buildings throughout the state.
Email Whitney Ridlon for Broadband Infrastructure grant information, or call her at 218-735-3004.

Paul Bunyan Telephone awarded $10 million in ReConnect funds for networks in Hubbard, Itasca, and St. Louis counties

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Senator Smith reports…

U.S. Senators Amy Klobuchar (D-MN) and Tina Smith (D-MN) announced that the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) has awarded $10 million in federal funding to expand access to high-speed broadband in Northeast Minnesota. These investments, provided through the ReConnect program and funded by the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, will help connect 3,529 people, 35 farms, and two public schools across Hubbard, Itasca, and St. Louis counties. Klobuchar’s legislation with House Majority Whip Jim Clyburn (D-SC) to expand high-speed internet nationwide served as the basis for major broadband funding included in the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act.

“This federal funding will make a real difference for communities in Hubbard, Itasca, and St. Louis counties, allowing thousands of families to access critical opportunities online while enabling farms to connect to new technologies such as precision agriculture,” said Klobuchar. “As co-chair of the Senate Broadband Caucus, I’ll keep fighting to close the digital divide and help all Minnesotans reliably get the high-speed internet they need.”

“Broadband is the infrastructure of the 21st Century – it isn’t just nice to have, it’s necessary if we’re going to build an economy that works for everyone,” said Smith. “ReConnect funding helps connect communities in greater Minnesota who have been left out of the digital economy. I am proud of our work to secure this funding, which will bring us one step closer to our goal of ensuring every Minnesotan – regardless of their zip code – has access to high-speed broadband.”