Category Archives: Funding

Sherburne County to expands Arvig Elk River and Haven/Clear Lake Broadband Grant Program

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The Patriot News reports on Sherburne County business…

The board approved amendments to Arvig Elk River and Haven/Clear Lake Broadband Grant Program agreements

Arvig received ARPA Broadband Access Program grants for several projects in 2023. The Elk River Round #1, Elk River Round #2, and the Clear Lake/Haven Round #2 projects were completed (or are very near to completion) under budget.

Staff recommended utilizing the remaining funds ($453,300) to expand the original scope of each project. The revised project scope would serve an additional 71 passings, which include 10 unserved and 61 underserved properties in Elk River, Haven, and Clear Lake.

Minnesota applies for $1B in rural health care funds to offset Medicaid cuts especially in rural MN

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I wrote about the $1 billion application earlier; MPR News takes a deeper look…

Minnesota has applied for a share of $50 billion in federal funding for rural health care that was approved by Congress as part of President Donald Trump’s One Big Beautiful Bill Act.

The Minnesota Department of Health applied for $1 billion over five years. Its 62-page application lays out detailed plans for the funds, including fellowships aimed at getting more medical students training and working in rural areas, adding more telehealth opportunities and providing more preventative care screenings in local venues, such as schools, pharmacies and tribal clinics.

It is in reaction to losing funds in other places…

The Minnesota Hospital Association estimates that the state could lose $2.4 billion in federal health care funding in the first year alone, fiscal year 2028. The MHA also finds that 140,000 Minnesotans on Medicaid could lose their healthcare coverage while another 60,000 Minnesotans will likely drop their ACA health insurance because of the rising costs.

It sounds like the impact could be harder felt in rural Minnesota…

About 30 percent of Minnesotans live in rural areas of the state, where the health care system has been severely strained in recent years.

There’s a shortage of physicians, nurses and other medical professionals, and the number of rural medical clinics and hospitals closing is on the rise. The MDH wrote in its application for the Rural Health Transformation Program funding that 34 out of Minnesota’s 95 rural hospitals are financially distressed, which means they’ve had four or more years of negative operating margins in the past eight years. Just this year, Mayo Clinic Health System announced it was closing six rural clinics in southeast Minnesota.

According to the application, Minnesota’s rural residents on average must travel 64 minutes for medical-surgical care, whereas people in the state’s urban areas travel just 19 minutes on average for care.

MN Office of Broadband Development Performance Report for 2025

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Being honest, I’m not sure when the MN Office of Broadband Development Performance Report for 2025 came out, but it seems to cover what’s been budgeted as well as what’s been spent. Here’s the purpose form the report itself…

This report details the State of Minnesota’s use of its American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) Capital Projects Fund (CPF) allocation. The State’s goal with the CPF investment is to expand broadband infrastructure to unserved and underserved communities through three broadband infrastructure grant programs and one community facilities grant program. The Minnesota Office of Broadband Development (OBD) administers the broadband infrastructure programs, and the Minnesota Department of Education (MDE) administers the Community Facilities program.

And key findings…

Key Outcomes and Opportunities Broadband projects that have been administered utilizing CPF dollars are expected to reach a total of 31,732 passings across the state.

In the dates covered by this report, OBD has processed reimbursements and administered project costs of $29,020,361.20 in grants through B2B, $19,055,545.37 in grants through LD, and $3,244,240.68 through LE. COMPLETION STATUS ACROSS 94 OBD PROJECTS Completed Projects More than 50% complete Less than 50% complete Not started 1 project 11 projects OBD rolled out the third round of Line Extension, which awarded $7,554,872.31 to 16 providers and will serve 1,087 previously unserved locations in Minnesota. OBD plans to use funds from earlier rounds of B2B, LD, and LE projects, that completed under budget to re-roll out a fourth round of Line Extension Fall 2025. See Budget Modification for details.

Key outcomes across the state with broadband projects include:
• Most recent mapping data from December 2024 (Minnesota’s State Program Dashboard) shows the state of Minnesota is overall, 90.32% served (with speeds of at least 100 by 20 Mbps), 7.33% unserved, and 2.36% underserved for wireline service.
• Local partners matched in funding CPF Line Extension Rounds 1 through 3 a total of $5,069,552.87
• Combined total local matching funds for all CPF projects is projected around $151 million

As well as use of funds

OBD Programs
The following table captures the expenditures for the reporting period. CPF dollars have been spent on
administrative costs, which include contracting with grantees, compiling progress reports, monitoring
site visits, compiling progress reports, federal reporting and on-site field validations, as well as infrastructure project costs. Of the total CPF dollars allocated to the state in the amount of $180,702,620.00, OBD has reported total expenditures through FY 2025 of $69,475,144.63 or about 38% of state funds.
FY25 Minnesota Office of Broadband Development CPF funding

Budget Modification
OBD requested and gained approval of a net zero budget modification, increasing the LD and LE budgets, and decreasing the B2B budget to cover the following cumulative budget changes of $1,287,927.00.

The budget modifications were completed to align grant balances with legislative directive and to adjust project funding from the original budget. The modification reflected the opportunity OBD saw in the higher demand for LD and LE, via interest and higher applications, from unserved Minnesotan residents and businesses.
As B2B, LD and LE grants close with unspent funds, OBD plans to regrant out LE funding and will complete budget modifications for any B2B and LD with remaining balances, moving the funding over to the LE program. OBD plans to open a Round 4 LE in the fall of 2025 to utilize these funds prior to 12/31/2026 use of funds deadline.

Border-to-Border Broadband Development Grant Program (B2B) and Lower Population Density Pilot (LD) Program
The Border-to-Border Broadband Development Grant Program was created in Minn. Stat. 116J.395 in 2014. The legislative focus of this grant program is to provide financial resources that help make the business case for new and existing providers to invest in building broadband infrastructure into unserved and underserved areas of the state. The Border-to-Border Broadband Grant Program has been funded with state general fund revenues and a combination of both state general fund revenues and federal American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) Sec. 604 Capital Projects Funds (CPF).

Round 7 B2B: Among the active projects: 2 grants are 65%-75% complete, 19 grants are 80% to 99% complete and 4 grants are 100% complete. There are 19 field validations that will occur by fall 2025.
Reimbursements to grantees for FY25 were $29,020,361.20, bringing the reimbursement total to 43.4%
of the total $66,901,598.00 obligated funds.
Round 8, B2B and LD: Among the active B2B projects: one grant is 1% complete, one grant is 70% complete, and one grant is 83% complete. Of the active LD grants, one grant is at 25% complete, one grant is 60% complete, 3 grants are 75-83% complete, and 2 grants are at 90% complete. Many of these will be ready for field validations in the fall 2025. Reimbursements to grantees for FY25 were
$19,055,545.37, bringing the reimbursement total to around 42.9% of the total $44,453,612.00 obligated funds.

Broadband Line Extension (LE) Connection Program
In the 2022 Legislative Session, the Minnesota OBD was directed to create a new program, the Broadband Line Extension Connection Program. The purpose of the program is to award grants for the extension of existing broadband infrastructure to unserved locations. An unserved location is a location that does not have a wired broadband service of at least 25Mbps download and 3 Mbps upload. See Appendix B for the summary table of LE projects and below for a status summary.

Round 1 (LE): Construction is complete for all 19 projects. Completion was due by December of 2024. As of 6/30/2025, 17 grants are closed, and 2 grants are pending close. Reimbursements to grantees for FY25 were $2,282,165.48; bringing the reimbursement total to 70.5% of the total $3,238,849.14 obligated funds.
Round 2 (LE): Construction is completed on all 13 projects. Completion was due by June of 2025. As of
6/30/2025, 5 grants are closed, and 8 grants are pending close. Reimbursements to grantees for FY25 were $962,075.20; bringing the reimbursement total to 21.7% of the total $4,430,273.51 obligated funds.
Round 3 (LE): Construction for all 16 projects is to be completed by December 2025; As of 6/30/2025, 7 grants are under 50% completed and 9 are over 50% completed, with 4 of those grants pending close.
No reimbursements have been made to these grantees as of 6/30/2025.

NTIA Announces Tribal Broadband Program Reforms to Maximize Tribal Connectivity and Reduce Red Tape

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From the National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA)…

The Department of Commerce’s National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) announced today that it is working on reforms across its Tribal broadband programs to reduce red tape for Tribal governments, promote flexibility, and align NTIA’s grant opportunities to better serve Tribal connectivity. Specifically, these reforms will streamline the Tribal Broadband Connectivity Program (TBCP) and the native entity set-aside from the Digital Equity Act through a new Notice of Funding Opportunity (NOFO) to support Tribal broadband access.

NTIA intends to launch the new NOFO in Spring 2026 and will make available any remaining tribal broadband funding (estimated to be at least $500 million).

“NTIA’s goal is simple: stretch every dollar as far as possible to achieve universal Tribal connectivity and better serve Tribal communities’ needs,” said Assistant Secretary of Commerce and NTIA Administrator Arielle Roth. “This strategic realignment of our Tribal grant programs will reduce administrative burdens, prevent duplication, and ensure consistency across NTIA’s broadband initiatives. Most importantly, it will maximize the impact of this funding, helping to connect as many Tribal households as possible.”

NTIA will continue to award equitable distribution grants, but all further infrastructure and use and adoption grants will be awarded under the Trump Administration’s new rules. NTIA will also soon be announcing a formal Tribal Consultation to allow Tribal governments to provide input on the next funding round.

The funding for the Tribal Broadband Connectivity Program stems from the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2021 ($1 billion) and the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act ($2 billion). In total, NTIA has already made 275 awards totaling $2.2 billion with TBCP funding. Through TBCP’s first NOFO, NTIA awarded more than $1.87 billion in funds through 226 projects impacting more than 400 Tribes. NTIA’s second TBCP NOFO has awarded $360 million in funds across 48 projects. NTIA is continuing to make Equitable Distribution awards under the second NOFO. NTIA is not rescinding any obligated awards.

Senate votes for agriculture bill with $109 million for rural broadband

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Broadband Breakfast reports…

The Senate voted 60-40 Monday to pass a continuing resolution that would reopen the government, plus some appropriations bills. One of the pieces of legislation would provide about $109 million for rural broadband programs.

The Department of Agriculture’s ReConnect program would see $50,750,000 of that. The bill would direct the funding to rural areas in which at least 90 percent of households lack access to speeds of 25 megabits per second (Mbps) download and 3 Mbps upload, provided there isn’t an existing state or federally funded deployment already planned. Recipient ISPs would have to deploy 100 * 20 Mbps.

Another $40,767,000 would be made available for distance learning and telemedicine grants, also managed by the USDA.

Concerns over recommendations to reallocate IIJA/BEAD funds to deficit reduction

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Senator Ernst has proposed “To amend the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act to require remaining funds under the Broadband Equity, Access, and Deployment Program to be used for deficit reduction.”

We have heard concern in Minnesota because this would impact the BEAD funds that we are not being allowed to use for infrastructure investment in broadband. Bree Maki from Office of Broadband Development informed us that, “For Minnesota it is potentially a loss of more than $255 million (at this time). That is just an estimate because we are still waiting for NTIA to make decisions on our final proposal.”

Senators Cantwell and Schatz ask for answers on Trump Administration’s delay of nearly $1 billion in tribal broadband grants

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The US Senate Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation reports…

U.S. Senator Maria Cantwell (D-Wash.), Ranking Member of the Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation, and Senator Brian Schatz (D-Hawaii), Vice Chairman of the Committee on Indian Affairs, today demanded answers from Commerce Department Secretary Howard Lutnick and National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) Administrator Arielle Roth about why the Trump Administration has frozen the distribution of nearly $1 billion in congressionally-approved broadband grants to Native communities.

NTIA has frozen the Tribal Broadband Connectivity Program (TBCP), leaving roughly $980 million in Round 2 funding unobligated despite applications closing in March 2024. Additionally, $294 million in grants announced in December 2024 have not been distributed, and existing grant recipients report concerns that NTIA may impose new requirements or claw back previously awarded funds. …
To date, the TBCP has awarded $2.24 billion to 275 Tribal projects across the nation, including approximately $100 million to 19 projects in the State of Washington and $89 million to projects on Hawaiian Home Lands in the State of Hawai’i.

Pew looks at what Broadband Workforce Expected needs to do to meet BEAD requirements

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Pew Research reports…

The success of federal broadband investments—especially the $42.5 billion Broadband Equity, Access, and Deployment (BEAD) program—depends on whether the U.S. has enough trained workers to build and maintain a workforce. Evidence suggests that worker shortages, misaligned training timelines, and inconsistent data could delay states from meeting BEAD’s ambitious deadlines.

On June 6, 2025, the U.S. Department of Commerce updated the BEAD implementation guidance. The new rules require states to reopen provider selection, which could delay funding in some places and accelerate it in others—making worker readiness more urgent. In addition, the suspension of nondeployment funds reduces resources that states had planned to use for workforce development.

Workforce challenges have already been widely cited as risk factors in almost every state. According to an analysis by The Pew Charitable Trusts, 41 states and Washington, D.C., identified workforce challenges in their BEAD or Digital Equity Act (DEA) plans: DEA was a separate Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA) program that provided support for digital adoption and workforce training, but was canceled in May 2025.1 Those challenges included barriers for workers trying to join the industry and a lack of detailed federal job classification data—suggesting that workforce shortages are not only local but a potential nationwide barrier to BEAD implementation.

They mention some work that they feel might streamline the process…

Key findings include:

  • The pool of skilled telecommunications workers is shrinking just as demand is rising sharply. Policymakers should examine the barriers to growth for specific broadband-related occupations to meet both short- and long-term needs.
  • Training requirements mean new workers cannot be mobilized quickly, raising risks of deployment delays.
  • Competitive wages and benefit packages are crucial as telecommunications employers compete for workers across industries or those who are supporting other infrastructure projects funded through the IIJA.
  • Inconsistency in jobs classifications in federal data obscure workforce needs. Greater collaboration between employers and federal and state governments is needed to standardize data and improve planning.

And, in case you’re thinking about the workforce or jobs…

In assessments of workforce needs specific to BEAD, the National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) said the following workers are needed to expand broadband infrastructure:

  • Equipment operators.
  • Fiber and wireless technicians.
  • Inspectors.
  • Laborers and manual movers.
  • Master and stage electricians.
  • Network architects and coordinators.
  • Radio frequency and field engineers.
  • Software engineers.
  • Structural engineers.
  • Surveyors and drafters.
  • Trenchers.
  • Trucking crews.2

 

St. Louis County summarizes ARPA spending: $54.5 million on landfill, roads, housing, childcare and broadband

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Citizen Portal, which is an AI powered media resource, reports,

County administration presented a final summary of how St. Louis County used $54.5 million in American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) dollars, describing investments in solid waste infrastructure, roads, broadband and social services meant to address pandemic impacts.
Administrator Gray told the board the county received ARPA funds in two tranches in 2021 and 2022 and that staff worked to meet complex U.S. Treasury reporting and compliance deadlines. Gray said the board intentionally focused funding on four areas: pandemic response/recovery, economic impacts, support for service delivery, and infrastructure (roads, water/sewer and broadband).
Key allocations described by administration included roughly $12.5 million for upgrades to the county’s large solid waste landfill to address forever chemicals; about $7.25 million for roads (including a roughly $3.5 million reclaim-and-overlay project to complete County Highways 115 and 77 between Cook and Tower, with widened paved shoulders for pedestrians and cyclists); broadband investments in communities that lacked service; and investments in county buildings and transfer stations.
Administration also cited investments in youth and recreation projects that benefited 25–30 communities countywide, including $830,000 for childcare expansion in partnership with the Northland Foundation (Administration described roughly $750,000 of that as contributed by the foundation), and a range transitional housing project in Virginia and Hibbing still under way. Other ARPA-supported projects included behavioral health urgent care in Duluth in partnership with the Human Development Corporation (HDC), fairgrounds improvements and a solar expansion project in Mount Iron.
Administrators said roughly half of the ARPA allocation went to infrastructure, highlighted pandemic-related staff costs and outreach that were supported without drawing on levy dollars, and noted that more than 100 unique projects or investment categories were advanced. Board members repeatedly praised county staff for project management and compliance; several commissioners also recognized former deputy administrator Brian Fritzinger and audit staff for their roles in tracking projects.

Office of Broadband Update Oct 22: Task Force Meeting, Line Extension and BEAD updates

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The Office of Broadband Development reports…

Broadband Matters: Office of Broadband Development Updates

  • Broadband Task Force, October meeting recap
  • Line Extension Connection Program update
  • BEAD updates
  • OBD in the news

Broadband Task Force, October meeting recap

The Broadband Task Force met on Wednesday October 15 in Clearwater, Minnesota at the TelCom Construction (TCC) Training Facility. The Task Force heard presentations from TCC leadership on their training programs and got hands on experience with equipment demonstrations. Thank you TCC for hosting and sharing their facility and expertise!

More information on this and past meetings can be found on the Broadband Task Force webpage.

Line Extension Connection Program update

The Round 4 Line Extension bidding window opened, September 26, 2025.

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

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 will be posted to the OBD BEAD webpage.

OBD in the news

Pictured above: Moderator Kevin Sievert (Senior Manager, Broadband Funding) and panelists, Derrick Owens (Sr. VP of Government & Industry Affairs, WTA), Bree Maki (Executive Director, Minnesota Office of Broadband Development), and Marissa Mitrovich (VP, Public Policy FBA).

Earlier this week, OBD staff attended ConneXions 2025 in Las Vegas, Nevada. OBD’s Executive Director Bree Maki spoke on the panel, the State of Bead. The panel discussed how state offices and internet services providers have navigated the BEAD program’s changes, integrated the new rules into programs, and plan for completion.

Director Maki was also featured on season 6, episode 50 of the Connected Nation podcast, titled Connecting the Land of 10,000 Lakes. The episode, which covered connecting Minnesotans to broadband, can be streamed here.

More than 20 percent of BEAD locations will go to satellite and 67 percent will go to fiber

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Fierce Network reports…

After all the hand-wringing about the revisions to the Broadband Equity, Access and Deployment (BEAD) program under the Trump administration, it looks like about 67.1% of eligible locations will get fiber, while 20.5% will receive low-Earth orbit (LEO) satellite connections. The remaining locations will receive fixed wireless access (10%) and coaxial cable (2.4%).

These figures come from the Connected Nation website, which is tracking all the BEAD proposals. Currently, it has data for 51 final proposals out of 56, and its data shows the allocations of 3.36 million locations out of a presumed 4.2 million.

The information comes from the Connected Nation interactive BEAD tracker, which I wrote about earlier this month. Looks like the national information has been updated since I last looked.

Ashby Public School Agricultural Education Department awarded $5,000 grant from The Foundation for Rural Service

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The Foundation for Rural Service (FRS) is the philanthropic arm of NTCA–The Rural Broadband Association. Park Region Telephone Company is a member and through that membership, Ashby Public School Agricultural Education Department was awarded a $5,000 grant.

FRS reports…

The Foundation for Rural Service (FRS), the philanthropic arm of NTCA–The Rural Broadband Association, today announced the recipients of its 2025 Community Grants Program, totaling over $145,000. FRS awarded grants to 31 rural-serving organizations nationwide to support projects in public service, education, health and business development.

“Every year, we are inspired by the creativity and dedication of our member companies and their community partners,” said FRS Executive Director Pam Becker. “The work each of these organizations does helps improve the lives of those in their communities. FRS is honored to partner with NTCA members to make these projects a reality and is grateful for our generous donors for making it possible.”

NTCA members partnered with FRS in presenting every award, contributing 20% of the total grant amount. Grants range up to $5,000 and fund needs such as safety equipment, educational resources, and community improvements.

A complete list of 2025 awardees is below:

Ashby Public School Agricultural Education Department – Ashby, Minn.
Partnering NTCA member: Park Region Telephone Company
Awarded $5,000 to build a greenhouse on the school campus, supplying fresh produce to local food shelves and the school lunch program year-round.

Continue reading →

Doug Dawson points out three flaws of BEAD

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Doug Dawson knows broadband policy and technology from the ground up. He has written about three main flaws in BEAD funding…

BEAD Satellite Awards. I start with the premise that rural communities are not going to be happy when somebody officially tells them that the federal government is giving money to Starlink or Kuiper to solve their rural broadband gap. It’s likely that NTIA and the FCC will declare that satellite is good broadband so that they can declare that the rural broadband gap has been solved.

There are also natural limitations on the capabilities of satellite broadband. It can be difficult to deliver a satellite signal through heavy tree canopy.  …

Defaults. There will continue to be defaults for existing broadband grant programs. This year saw significant RDOF defaults from Charter and CenturyLink. There will be defaults on networks funded by ARPA grants, where funding ends at the end of 2026.

I expect BEAD defaults. …

Crappy Mapping. The biggest group of locations missed by BEAD will be due to poor FCC maps. The BEAD map challenge was a total joke. It was fairly easy for ISPs to get BEAD-eligible locations removed from the map, including many that should have stayed on. The map challenge made it practically impossible to add locations to the BEAD map where the FCC maps were in error. There are two major flaws in the FCC maps that will surface as people complain about still not having adequate broadband.

Government shutdown disrupts telehealth at Winona Health

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WXOW reports…

The federal government shutdown is creating new challenges for Winona Health patients who rely on telehealth.

Winona Health officials say the number of people affected is small, but Medicare patients are feeling the change. Some visits that had been conducted virtually must now happen in person.

Hospice care is also impacted. Certain recertification visits that were allowed over telehealth will now require face-to-face appointments.

Administrators say they expect telehealth options to return once Congress resolves the budget impasse.

Conference discussion on the trials and tribulations of BEAD applications and processing

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More notes from the  SCTE TechExpo, this time from Route Fifty talking about trials and tribulations of BEAD applications and processing. There were remarks from the NTIA…

States are on track in submitting and finalizing their plans on how to spend their share of $42 billion meant to expand internet access, the federal official in charge of the program said this week.

Arielle Roth, the administrator of the National Telecommunications and Information Administration and the assistant secretary of commerce for communications and information, said she is “pleasantly surprised” at the progress states are making on their revised final plans for the Broadband Equity, Access and Deployment program.

And from the state level from Minnesota…

Minnesota’s Executive Director of Broadband Development Bree Maki noted that the state received bids to serve 52,000 of its 76,000 eligible locations. Leftover money remains a key point of intrigue, however. Sandfoss said states are all “wondering what’s next for the remaining funds,” and hopeful of getting projects moving through the complex permitting process.

“I think the harder part for us is the stuff that we can’t control: the pole attachments, railroad crossings, those kinds of issues that aren’t as cut and dry as getting a state agency to approve a historic preservation review,” she said.

There are indications that the federal government wants to make permitting easier, especially through what can be arduous and yearslong project reviews under the National Environmental Policy Act and the National Historic Preservation Act. Maki said Minnesota’s broadband office has hired an archaeologist to help with the latter.