Category Archives: Funding

Bois Forte-CTC extends NECS middle mile broadband to 2,000 locations around Lake Vermilion (St Louis and Koochiching Counties)

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The Timberjay has a nice article on the history of broadband in parts of St Louis and Koochiching Counties – from NESC middle mile in 2015 to the Bois Forte-CTC extensions today. It’s proof that, like Rome, FTTH was not built in a day. I’m going to share an abridged version below, but I strongly suggested checking out the original.

Roughly a decade ago, the Northeast Service Cooperative strung a massive web of fiber across northeastern Minnesota. But what you’re seeing today isn’t a duplication of that work. It’s the follow-through. Thanks to a partnership between NESC, the Bois Forte Band of Chippewa and the broadband company CTC, more than 2,000 homes and businesses around Lake Vermilion’s south shore, Pelican Lake, and Nett Lake are finally getting high-speed broadband service.   …

NESC’s “freeway” network was completed in 2015 after four years of construction and $43.5 million in federal investment. The goal wasn’t to wire every house. It was to build a middle mile, essential infrastructure that future projects could plug into.

Joe Weber, divisional director for the NESC middle mile system, said the project was originally built to serve schools, libraries, governments, and other public entities in places where private providers couldn’t justify the cost of running fiber.    …

The original network spanned eight counties and connected about 320 public facilities. Since then, it has grown to over 1,300 miles of fiber stretching from Cambridge to Grand Portage.
The Bois Forte–CTC project wouldn’t have been feasible without the NESC backbone. Without it, CTC would have faced the enormous expense of building long stretches of new fiber just to link the project area to the larger internet. By tapping into NESC’s existing system, those costs were avoided.  …

A common question that’s cropped up in recent months is whether a network built in 2011 to 2015 can keep up with the skyrocketing internet demands of 2025 and beyond. Both Weber and Buttweiler say that’s not a concern with fiber optics.
“The fiber itself has not changed at all,” Weber said. “The same investment 12 or 13 years ago is still working with new technology.”

Connected Nation creates interactive BEAD tracker

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Connected Nation has created an interactive BEAD tracker. It’s pretty slick. I hate to start by asking for more – but the rest of the post will be picture of what I did like. I wish there was a mapping component and I wish I could track by county. But when you’re looking for state (or national) level information it’s pretty slick.

From the main page:

A look at Minnesota – by locations

A look at Minnesota by grants

Page 2 for the US

Page 2 of MN

 

How are BEAD changes impacting the fiber versus satellite breakdown in Wisconsin?

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Wisconsin’s The Badger Project looks at BEAD funding and the relatively new focus on satellite…

Experts worry that the federal government will force states to use public funds initially earmarked for fiber-optic instead for much slower but cheaper-and-faster-to-install satellite internet provided by companies like SpaceX’s Starlink and Jeff Bezos’ Project Kuiper.

They spoke with Minnesota-based Christopher Mitchell…

The bill intended for most of the funding to go towards locally-owned fiber-optic networks, Christopher Mitchell, director of the Community Broadband Networks Initiative, a Minnesota-based think tank supporting communities’ telecommunications efforts, said in an email to The Badger Project.

“There was an expectation that only the very remote, intolerably high-cost locations would be left with satellite access,” he continued.

While fiber-optic delivers superfast and virtually uninterrupted internet access, there’s a significant, one-time cost of time and money to bury the cables in the ground, especially in rural areas with few homes. For-profit companies have often refused to make that investment without public funding, because the return is poor in sparsely populated areas.

On the other hand, satellite internet has lower setup costs in both time and money, as only a dish needs to be installed at each home or business. But as technology advances and consumers keep requiring faster internet, the speeds provided by satellite are much slower in general than fiber. Despite improvements, Starlink, the industry leader, does not regularly reach the federal definition of broadband speeds, according to an analysis by Ookla, an organization that provides measurements of telecommunications. Internet delivered via fiber-optic cables can already obliterate that minimum speed.

Starlink also says its internet service can be affected by severe weather. And questions remain if satellite internet companies can deliver on the scale needed across the country.

Recent changes in BEAD requirements has meant more satellite (in the applications) in Wisconsin…

Wisconsin’s original proposal for homes without high-speed internet access had 93% fiber-optic deployment. The revised plan submitted has 73% fiber, 13% fixed wireless, often from towers, and 13% satellite.

FCC votes to end discounts for library Wi-Fi hotspot lending and school bus connectivity

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KSTP Channel 5 reports…

The Federal Communications Commission voted to end discounts for library Wi-Fi hotspot lending and school bus connectivity programs on Tuesday, drawing criticism from lawmakers and librarians who say the moves will make it more difficult for people who are low-income or live in rural areas to access the internet.

The 2-1 vote on hotspot lending reverses a Biden-era expansion of the discounts that allowed schools and libraries to use E-Rate funds for school bus Wi-Fi and hotspots so people could go online outside of schools and libraries.

The FCC said the agency “lacked legal authority for this expansion and that the agency failed to properly justify its decision” and said the program represented “unreasonable policy choices” and “invited waste, fraud, and abuse.”

Is BEAD looking like RODF?

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Telecompetitor spoke with Finley Engineering Client Vice President Andy Heins about his take on BEAD…

First, the National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) is setting three cost-per-location thresholds. Depending on the threshold reached, providers must (1) explain and justify their price, (2) explain, justify, and lower their price, or (3) renegotiate and accept other providers’ technology to serve the proposed area.

The practical result of these thresholds and the revised BEAD guidelines established in June is that, in the future, some rural areas and communities may not have access to the reliable, high-speed connections they want, need, and have been promised by the BEAD legislation. Heins believes rural areas and communities across the nation that want fiber will end up with low Earth orbit (LEO) satellite connections and will be disappointed with its quality.

The second challenge Heins identified is equally troubling. The provisional awards announced so far suggest that private equity may play a significant role in funding BEAD projects.

Private equity is not inherently a bad source of funding. But the typical investment profile for private equity involves making investments and seeking an exit with positive returns in a shorter timeframe than is typically required for rural network deployments.

This approach can lead to faster deployment, but it also raises questions about the long-term commitment to operating and maintaining these networks. Heins said rural communities need partners that foster both investment and sustainable stewardship to ensure these broadband projects continue to serve them for years to come.

While NTIA must sign off on every state’s final BEAD proposal — and retains the authority to request further revisions to approved budgets and projects — Heins wonders if the race to drive per-location costs lower will push the industry toward the same pitfalls we saw with the Rural Digital Opportunity Fund’s (RDOF) low-bid auctions, where aggressive underbidding has already led to widespread defaults and unfinished builds.

These are grim possibilities. It’s not what any of us wants for the future of BEAD. But when someone with years of industry experience speaks, it behooves us to listen.

Folks in some part of Minnesota are acutely aware of the issue s with RDOF, especially folks living in areas where LTD Broadband was awarded RDOF money and then funds were revoked and those areas lost out on the funding and the opportunity to work with another provider during the process.

State Office of Broadband are in a tough place with BEAD deadlines, budgets and expectations

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Fierce Network reports on a recent panel at the SCTE Tech Expo happening in Washington DC…

States have been chugging away at revising their Broadband Equity, Access and Deployment (BEAD) proposals for NTIA, but the time crunch is gnawing away at broadband office resources.

Meghan Sandfoss, Kentucky’s executive director of broadband development, said in a panel Monday the BEAD program’s “curing” process, where NTIA reviews the state plans and requests changes, has a “very aggressive” timeline.

MN Office of Broadband Development’s Bree Maki was there…

“One thing we need to recognize as we’re talking about these deadlines is we don’t do this alone in a silo,” said Minnesota broadband chief Bree Maki. “We need information from our partners,” meaning the ISPs, so “the timelines are tight all around.”

Staffing issues don’t help matters, either. “We know we’re short staffed in the amount of work, and they are all too,” Maki said, referring to the state’s other agencies. Georgia broadband director Jessica Simmons said her team just has four people, but she noted that can be an advantage as “we’re all going to be in the loop” when problems arise.

“One thing we are not shy to say is I will borrow and steal from any other broadband office who has figured out the answer [to a problem],” Maki said. “I know my team has people they talk to on other peoples’ team, because it’s not just the directors doing it.”

Sounds like state offices are being asked to do more in permitting as well…

When it comes to problems with BEAD implementation, permitting is unsurprisingly a big one. As Roth noted Monday, NTIA set up a new online permitting tool states can use for BEAD projects subject to National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) review, as well as provide exemptions where appropriate.

By doing this, NTIA aims to speed up the processing time per project and help broadband offices get their permitting paperwork together. NTIA is also requiring state broadband offices to act as “joint lead agencies” to carry out NEPA review, which for some is an entirely new field.

“Previously, our office has not really been involved in the permitting process. It’s really been the providers going and getting the permits themselves,” Simmons said. “That obviously will be a new kind of process for us, assisting with that.”

Both Rep Pete Stauber and Rep Kelly Morrison talk to House Small Business Committee about rural broadband

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Forbes Breaking News reports on remarks from Rep Kelly Morrison and Rep Pete Stauber at a House Small Business Committee hearing. Both recognize the importance of rural broadband, USF reform and value of FTTH…

 

States Revise Tentative BEAD Awards: MN must work on bids over $10,000 per passing

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I’ve shared this news but sometimes, it’s good to see how it gets framed and shared other places too; Broadband Breakfast reports…

Eight states have revised their tentative awards under the Broadband Equity, Access, and Deployment program. Some made minor changes and others had material reductions in locations being served or money being spent.

And specifically about MN…

Meanwhile, Minnesota revealed costs thresholds NTIA is using to push spending down: Those from $10,000 to $20,000 per passing require written justification, those from $20,000 to $23,000 have to be negotiated down to $20,000, and those above $23,000 had to be renegotiated in three days. The state said it was given official notice on Monday.

US-wide BEAD award has been 46 percent of original allocation – in MN that was 58 percent

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Telecompetitor reports…

Most states (45 as of Friday) have released their recommended awards in the Benefit of the Bargain round in the Broadband Equity, Access and Deployment (BEAD) Program. The total value of the award recommendations for those states is less than half of initial allocations, according to a Telecompetitor analysis.

The initial allocation for the 45 states was about $32.8 billion. The total value of the award recommendations for the states is about $15.2 billion, or about 46% of the initial allocation.

Here is the allocation versus award by state:

Minnesota places well above average at 57.8 percent (versus US wide percentage of 46 percent) and ranks 12 in terms of percentage retained. But that could continue to change…

It’s important to keep in mind that the states’ recommendations for BEAD awards are not final. The recommendations still must be approved by the National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA), which is rumored to be seeking reductions to the award amounts.

EVENT Sep 30: BEAD Deployment: Preparing to Connect the Heartland Once and For All

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From Heartland Forward …

Join Heartland Forward on Tuesday, September 30th at 10 AM CST for a 60-minute webinar, BEAD Deployment: Preparing to Connect the Heartland Once and For All.

This conversation will:

  •  Provide an overview of how heartland states plan to deploy federal funding to deliver high-speed internet to all communities.
  •  Offer practical steps local governments, ISPs and community leaders can take, such as streamlining permitting and infrastructure approvals, to accelerate deployment when funding arrives.
  •  Highlight resources like the Connecting the Heartland Jobs Board, connecting workers to high-speed internet jobs and training opportunities to support rapid deployment.

Featured Speakers:

  •  Mary Larkin Furlow – Senior Manager of Connecting the Heartland, Heartland Forward
  •  Devon Braunstein – Director, Illinois Office of Broadband
  •  Kathryn de Wit – Project Director, Broadband Access, The Pew Charitable Trusts
  •  Glen Howie – State Broadband Director, The Arkansas State Broadband Office
  •  Veneeth Iyengar – Executive Director, ConnectLA
  •  Mike Sanders – Executive Director, Oklahoma Broadband Office
  •  Peter Voderberg – Chief, BroadbandOhio

Register here for the webinar.

 

Please share this invitation with others who are invested in connecting every home, business and community in the heartland. Together, we can ensure that every heartland community has the high-speed internet access it needs to thrive.

Office of Broadband Development Office hours Sep 24: BEAD updates and federal permitting

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Almost 50 people attended the Office of Broadband Development Office hours this week to get updates on BEAD. Also, Megan Messerol, the Land Use Permitting Expert at OBD spoke about rules for federal funding related to land and permits. People had good questions and OBD made clear that they are happy to have open conversations with all partners. NTIA has the final say, so OBD may not always have an immediate answer but tonight we can find it.

I livestreamed the session – but it looks like only 6 minutes have been archived.

Questions & Chat notes

  • What happens to the remaining money that doesn’t get doled out?
    We don’t know but we have created a plan to use it all. We remain hopeful
  • What happened to the locations that didn’t get bids from providers?
    OBD did direct negotiations with 20,000 locations to because no one bid on those areas in the competitive round
  • Note: Project data reflected on the map is subject to change until NTIA approves MN’s Final Proposal and grant contracts are executed with subgrantees.
  • Welcome Megan. So happy to have you on the team! Will OBD or NTIA make the Categorical exclusion (CatX) determinations? High level idea of what that will look like?
    OBD will help with exclusion determinations – working with ISPs to gather most of the info. Then OBD will work through the process. NTIA will make the final determination.
  • ISPs will not interface with the ESP, but rather OBD?
    Correct
  • Link to the OBD BEAD webpage: https://mn.gov/deed/programs-services/broadband/bead/
  • NTIA is having a webinar on Tuesday Sep 30 https://broadbandusa.ntia.gov/events/latest-events/permitting-broadband-infrastructure-projects
  • You are saying don’t start your project until final approval – we see 47 week in delays in getting fiber. We haven’t even looked at equipment. Can procurement start before final approval? Do we need waivers if prices are growing? Will they be reimbursable?
    There is some guidance in our draft – but it is still a draft/ There is language about what you can purchase in advance. It is up to the NTIA.
  • will you please put this deck on the webpage
    Yes – it will be posted shortly!
  • any other dates to mention besides Sept. 30 permitting?
    Not at this time

TC Business looks at Minnesota’s investment in broadband

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Twin Cities Business posted a nice article on the history of broadband funding in Minnesota right up to today. It provides enough background to give context to a topic that ever-changing due to the nature of technology and funding…

For more than a decade, the state of Minnesota has been actively pursuing expansion of high-speed broadband access throughout greater Minnesota as well as in the Twin Cities metro. And there have been some significant success stories. But as Sjostrom’s experience demonstrates, there are still plenty of areas where internet speeds are still sluggish.

On Aug. 28, the state’s Office of Broadband Development announced that it would be making plans to disburse an estimated $392 million to parts of the state needing faster internet connections. That funding will certainly help bring greater Minnesota up to speed. With their general lack of urban density, rural areas still face the challenge of making broadband investments financially viable.

The recognize that both urban and rural communities have challenges…

Broadband access and the urban-rural digital divide have been widely discussed topics throughout this century. The pandemic intensified reliance on the internet to conduct business, work from home, and make purchases. Consequently, it made high-speed internet access an even more urgent need.

And recognize the work being done to increase access and adoption…

The state of Minnesota began addressing the need for higher-speed internet in 2013, when it established the Office of Broadband Development within the Department of Employment and Economic Development. The office was tasked with helping fund “border-to-border” high-speed internet access for all state residents and businesses. The following year, it launched a grant program through the state’s general fund to support communities’ efforts to attract broadband development.

Since 2014, the general fund money, along with some broadband-dedicated capital project funds, has totaled more than $400 million. There have been 10 rounds of border-to-border state grants to internet service providers (ISPs) to expand broadband in “unserved and underserved” locations. Those terms are defined by connection speed as measured in megabits per second (Mbps). “Underserved” connectivity has upload speed of lower than 100 Mbps and download speed of lower than 20 Mbps. “Unserved” is lower than 25 up and lower than 3 down. To earn a state broadband grant, a project must have speeds of at least 100/25 with the capability to scale up over time to 100/100.

Each border-to-border grant has covered up to 50% of an expansion project’s costs. There also have been three grant rounds from a smaller funding bucket called the Low-Population Density Program, which covers 75% of costs. According to Bree Maki, the Office of Broadband Development’s executive director, that program “recognizes the most expensive and difficult places to serve,” with the goal of “making the business case” to ISPs to expand in those areas. These grants “come with a lot of local match [dollars],” she adds.

Both ISPs and communities have contributed to buildout projects. Since 2014, nearly 120,000 locations have received state grant dollars. There are currently four grant rounds in progress, all of which will close by year’s end.

They may have also quoted me…

Based on her December 2024 profiles, Treacy says that “there are a number of counties that are doing well, and some of those counties are in rural areas.” Beltrami County, for instance, has enjoyed high-speed broadband thanks to fiber installed by Bemidji-based Paul Bunyan Communications.

“While some rural areas are well served, that puts the ones that aren’t well served further and further behind,” Treacy says. “Schools, businesses, health care organizations all assume a certain level of technology now. And if you don’t have it, you’re sunk.”

 

 

Unintended tax law changes in 2017 mean BEAD grants will be taxable

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Broadband Breakfast reports…

President Trump has already set to work growing on the promise of the BEAD Program with the administration’s release of new broadband policies and a Notice of Funding Opportunity (NOFO) for BEAD funds in June 2025.

Unintended consequences makes broadband grants taxable

But this promise is now in jeopardy. Unintended consequences resulting from changes in the federal tax law made broadband grants treated as taxable income. That means Washington is trying to claw back 20 to 30 percent of the grant funding that has been allocated to rural and last-mile broadband providers.

Instead of investing every dollar into finally connecting those who need access to broadband the most, providers will be forced to send money back to Washington, unless the president and Congress step in to help.

This is not just bad policy, it is devastating for American workers, rural communities, and taxpayers who deserve this connectivity. It will halt thousands of broadband projects across the country and cost tens-of-thousands of hardworking Americans their jobs.

Broadband providers will be forced to scale back, leaving hundreds of thousands of Americans, many in rural communities that strongly support President Trump without affordable internet access.

This isn’t exactly news but it’s resurfacing. Beyond Telecom Law wrote about it in Feb 2025 and March 2022…

In March 2022, we published a blog post explaining that broadband grants are apparently subject to federal income taxation. Three years later, and with $42.5 billion in BEAD grants on the verge of disbursement, nothing has changed.

As discussed in 2022, the taxability of broadband grants seems to be an unplanned quirk of the 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act. Prior to that, broadband grants were generally exempt from taxation based on a favorable IRS interpretation of Section 118 of the tax code. But the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act amended Section 118 to the effect that “contributions to capital” (including grants) made from governmental or civic groups to a corporation are taxable as gross income.

Recent recipients of state and federal broadband grants are already struggling with this. 

Minnesota maintains highest possible bond rating

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This feels broadband adjacent, from News from the States…

Minnesota has earned the highest possible bond rating from three of Wall Street’s major credit agencies, affirming the state’s strong financial position despite some concerning fiscal trends and uncertainty from the federal government.

Minnesota’s AAA bond rating, which it has maintained for four consecutive years, means that the state can borrow money cheaply to fund infrastructure projects.

Office of Broadband Development Updates: Task Force meets Sep 22, BIA has sessions for Tribal Networks

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From the Office of Broadband Development …

Broadband Matters: Office of Broadband Development Updates

  • Minnesota’s BEAD Final Proposal submitted to NTIA
  • Broadband Task Force, September monthly meeting
  • Line Extension Connection Program update
  • Updated guidance on broadband infrastructure development in Tribal Communities

Minnesota’s BEAD Final Proposal submitted to NTIA

As required by the Broadband, Equity, Access, and Deployment (BEAD) Program, the Minnesota Office of Broadband Development (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 necessary to ensure all BEAD eligible locations are served as defined by the policy notice.

Deployment and Technology-Type Results
As published in Minnesota’s Draft Final Proposal submitted to NTIA on September 4, 2025:

  • Infrastructure/Broadband Deployment: $391,611,699 (an increase from the previously reported posted draft of $381 million)
  • Technology Breakdown by Percentage and Location Count:
    • Fiber/Coax: 57.7% – 43,339 locations
    • Satellite: 24.8% – 18,651 locations
    • Fixed Wireless: 17.5% – 13,031 locations

Minnesota’s Draft of the Final Proposal and attachments can be found on the OBD BEAD webpage.

Line Extension Connection Program update

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.

OBD is preparing locations for the 10-day Line Extension Review and Challenge, which is anticipated to run from September 15 to September 24, 2025.

Updates will be posted as the are available to the OBD Line Extension webpage. Questions on Line Extension can be sent to deed.broadband@state.mn.us or (651)-259-7610.

Broadband Task Force, September monthly meeting

The Broadband Task Force will be meeting on Monday, September 22 at 1pm CST. 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 as at the top of the meeting agenda, which will be posted along with other information on past meetings on the Broadband Task Force webpage.

Updated guidance on broadband infrastructure development in Tribal Communities

The Department of the Interior Office of the Assistant Secretary for Indian Affairs updated guidance on Streamlining the Rights-of-Way Application Processes for Broadband Infrastructure Projects Across Indian Trust and Restricted Land. Now, the Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) has seven business days to review an application and notify the Rights-of-Way applicant if any additional information is needed. The new policy also provides guidance on waivers of certain regulatory requirements.

Webinars are being offered to provide information on this new policy, which will be open to Indian Affairs staff, tribal realty staff, federally recognized tribes, tribal organizations, Alaska Native corporations, federal partners and industry.

The webinars will be held on:

Additional information is available on the BIA webpage.