The news is brief but valuable if you like to attend…
Meetings are virtual. Instructions for joining will be at the top of the agenda documents.
From the MN Office of Broadband Development…
Border-to-Border Broadband Application FAQs have been added to the Broadband website.
A reminder that June 23 is the Pre-Application Outreach deadline (only two weeks away). If you plan to submit a grant application, this outreach must be done by June 23.
Required Pre-Application Outreach to Other Providers
Minnesota law 116J.395, subd. 5(9) requires that an application include evidence that no later than six weeks before submission of the application the applicant contacted, in writing, all entities providing broadband service in the proposed project area to ask for each broadband service provider’s plan to upgrade broadband service in the project area to speeds that meet or exceed the state’s broadband speed goals in section 237.012, subd. 1, within the time frame specified in the proposed grant activities. The application is also to include the broadband providers written responses. This means that the required notification to other providers must be completed by June 23, 2022 for an application to be submitted by the last day of the filing window of August 4, 2022. This requirement is in statute and cannot be waived; an application that does not contain the necessary information will not be considered for funding.
The job is now open…
The Minnesota Department of Employment and Economic Development (DEED) is the State of Minnesota’s principal economic development agency. DEED’s mission is simple: to empower the growth of the Minnesota economy, for everyone.
Our state’s economy is diverse and dynamic, enriched by creative entrepreneurs, established Fortune 500 companies, and a hard-working labor force that brings the Minnesota values of hard work and integrity to work every day. The unique role of DEED is to empower businesses and workers to grow our economy by building partnerships, planning for long term growth, and creating opportunity for workers from all backgrounds and experiences.
We are driven to find talented and innovative public servants, motivated by the opportunity to serve businesses, people, and the greater good. At DEED you will join a diverse team, inspired by challenging work and united by shared values that guide our work every day.
At DEED we live our values by; focusing on the customer, communicating early and often, seeking solutions, creating inclusion, encouraging new ideas, and being gracious.
Apply before June 28. Salary range is roughly $90,000-130,000. Lots of good folks already work there.
Gov. Tim Walz signed an agriculture funding bill Thursday that includes drought relief for farmers, investments in rural broadband and support for beginning farmers.
The Legislature passed the bill Sunday in the closing hours of the 2022 legislative session. …
And the bill includes over $200 million to support further broadband development in rural Minnesota.
“As farmers grapple with extreme weather, costs of modernization, and unforeseen events like avian influenza, this bipartisan bill helps to address some of the most urgent issues facing our agricultural producers,” Walz said in a statement.
From the Minnesota Broadband Coalition…
Broadband Update
The Legislature approved $210 million for broadband expansion as part of the Drought Relief, Agriculture, and Broadband Omnibus Bill (HF3420). Members of the House and Senate appointed to the conference committee negotiated a compromise on a mix of state and federal funds, with most funding allocated to the state’s Border-to-Border Broadband Grant Program.
- $50 million general fund for Border-to-Border ($25 million in FY23 and $25 million in FY24).
- $60.7 million ARPA Capital Projects Fund (must be spent by 2026).
- Up to $30 million for a low-density pilot program:
- Increased state match to 75% and grant cap to $10 million.
- Report back to the Legislature by 12/31/2023 on impact of match and cap changes.
- Up to $15 million for state broadband mapping.
- Up to $15 million for a line extension pilot program.
- Any unused funds for the above three categories revert to the Border-to-Border fund.
- $50 million ARPA Capital Projects Fund left unallocated by the Legislature for Governor Walz to spend within the bounds of Treasury guidelines.
- Ensures all funds the state receives from the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act ($100m+) will be deposited in the Border-to-Border Grant Program for future infrastructure grants.
The conference committee wrapped up their report on Saturday, May 21, and the House promptly passed the legislation a few hours later, 69-64. The Senate took up the bill on Sunday, May 22, and passed it 66-1. The bill heads to Governor Walz for his signature. The general fund appropriation means the Office of Broadband Development will issue an RFP for infrastructure grants as soon as possible, with the intention of getting some projects completed during the 2022 construction season. The additional general fund and federal money brings long-term stability to a popular program that has been hampered by intermittent funding since its inception.
I’m sure I’ve posted several iterations of this presentation in the past – but it’s so helpful. I’ll do it again. Yesterday, the Office of Broadband Development presented to the Dakota Broadband Board with info on available and upcoming funding streams for broadband.
I posted about the Office of Broadband Development presenting to the MN House Industrial Education and Economic Development Committee yesterday, but fun to see it front and center of the Sessions Daily today…
Speedy and stable internet connections allow students to learn remotely, patients to visit with doctors using telemedicine, and commerce to continue.
That technology is critical during the COVID-19 pandemic.
“During these extraordinary times, the need for digital equity and high-speed internet access for all Minnesotans has never been more apparent,” said Angie Dickison, executive director of the Office of Broadband Development in the Department of Employment and Economic Development.
In a presentation to the House Industrial Education and Economic Development Finance and Policy Committee Wednesday, she noted that not all parts of the state have equal access to high-speed broadband internet connections, making coping with the pandemic more difficult.
It was a quick meeting today. Policymakers asking good questions with a theme of how can we get money to the unserved folks most quickly. There are clearly a few folks on the committee who are frustrated with their own home access. That may help ignite a fire under everyone – especially as most legislative meetings seem to be remote this year. There is a plan to recycle HF14 (via Rep Rob Ecklund) to get money for broadband. Next step might be getting presentations from the providers; maybe they’ll hear from the communities too.
The MN House Industrial Education and Economic Development Committee got a presentation (House Industrial Ed Broadband Update_DEED) from the Office of Broadband Development on Broadband. They outlined the actions they have taken to get federal funding.
Q & A:
From the House Session and Committee Schedule
Wednesday, February 2, 2022 , 8:30 AM
Industrial Education and Economic Development Finance and Policy
Chair: Rep. Gene Pelowski, Jr.
Location: Remote Hearing
Agenda:Presentation from the Office of Broadband Development on the Border-to-Border Broadband Grant Program.
Meeting documents will be posted on the Industrial Education and Economic Development Finance & Policy committee webpage: https://www.house.leg.state.mn.us/Committees/home/92020
CA: Owen.Wirth@house.mn
CLA: Urszula.Gryska@house.mn
This remote hearing is taking place pursuant to Rule 10.01 and may be viewed via the House webcast schedule page: https://www.house.leg.state.mn.us/htv/schedule.asp
All events are closed-captioned.
To provide feedback on digital accessibility of meeting information, please submit comments through the Minnesota Legislature Accessibility & Usability Comment Form. If you require an accommodation, please contact John Howe at: John.Howe@house.mn or by leaving a message at 651-296-3208. Please do not contact him with questions about the substance of the meeting agenda. To learn more about requesting an accommodation, please visit the FAQs for Disability Access.
The MN Broadband Task Force Annual Report is now available. Here are their recommendations…
Recommendations – Unserved, Underserved, & Funding
(1.1 & 1.3) The total $180 million Capital Projects Fund allocated to Minnesota from the federal ARPA fund, should be allocated to OBD for funding the Border-to-Border Broadband program over the next 2-3 years to help attain broadband service for all Minnesota residents.
(1.2 & 1.3) Grant funds should first be focused on unserved areas (~171,000 households fit this category), and the definitions of ‘unserved’ & ‘underserved’ should remain unchanged as they highlight the geographic areas not meeting stated goals.
(1.1, 1.2, 1.3, 1.4, 1.5) Geographic considerations should be factored in when allocating broadband grant funds. A “one-size fits all” grant allocation will not secure service in areas of the state where a fiber/cable option is difficult or impossible:
● Unserved areas of the state that are difficult to reach due to low density, tough geography, etc. should receive a higher % of funding match from OBD to increase build out options for wireline projects/solutions
● The legislature should require all future projects funded by OBD grant dollars be capable of 100 Mbps download and 100 Mbps upload at the time of deployment (irrespective of whether or not a provider offers a service package of 100/100), and meet network reliability requirements in the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs ActRecommendations – Mapping and Speed Goals
(2.1-2.3) Minnesota should continue to invest in improving broadband maps
● strive to achieve ISP cooperation in producing address-level or ‘shapefile’ broadband maps (rather than rely on current FCC census block data)
● include eligibility data related to the various federal programs supporting broadband infrastructure development
● OBD is encouraged to incorporate, whenever possible, data from reliable 3rd party ‘crowd-sourced’ maps when determining eligibility for Border-to-Border grants (2.4 & 2.5) The legislature should continue to make the investments from state general funds necessary to ensure that all Minnesotans, regardless of zip code, have access to broadband at speeds that meet state goals. Federal investments should not be seen as a substitute for ongoing state investmentRecommendations – Access, Affordability & Education
(3.1, 3.3, 3.4, 3.5, 3.6) Provide funding to the Office of Broadband Development to promote broadband adoption and use to redress digital inequity.
(3.2) Fully fund the Telecommunications Access Equity Aid (TEA) program (by raising the funding cap to at least $9 million) in order to allow school districts to equitably procure the internet and network bandwidth needed to fully support digital learning. This
aid program benefits school districts by making access to broadband more affordable by fully funding the eligible costs of the federal E-rate program.
(3.1, 3.3, 3.4, 3.5, 3.6) Establish and fund a position within the MN Department of Education to provide leadership and support to schools (and families) in areas of digital equity, digital literacy, funding (E-rate, etc.), cybersecurity, instructional technology and
other areas of education technology.
(3.7, 3.8) Given expressed needs from city & county leaders to expand the Lead for MN American Connection Corp fellows program (Americorp/Vista), the state should provide supplemental funding of $225,000 to support work in Minnesota communities on broadband expansion projects (15 more fellows @ $15,000 per fellow)
I will attend and will livestream via Facebook – although folks are welcome to attend directly as well. I don’t have the most recent draft of the report to share but I have the previous version. There were a few things that people might find concerning – like opening the door to using state grants for projects that only meet 25/3 requirements or emphasis on unserved.
Governor’s Task Force on Broadband
December 20, 2021
10:00 a.m. – 12:30 p.m.
Join on your computer or mobile app
Click here to join the meeting
Join with a video conferencing device
Video Conference ID: 117 952 458 6
Or call in (audio only)
+1 651-395-7448,,771759466# United States, St. Paul
Phone Conference ID: 771 759 466#
Find a local number | Reset PIN
10:00 a.m. – 10:10 a.m. Welcome, Task Force Introductions, Attendee Introductions and Approval of Minutes from December 3, 2021 Meeting
10:10 a.m. – 10:15 a.m. Office of Broadband Development (OBD) Update
10:15 a.m. – 11:00 a.m. Walk Thru of Draft Report
11:00 a.m. – 11:15 a.m. Break
11:15 a.m. – 12:00 p.m. Continue Walk Thru of Draft Report
12:00 p.m. – 12:15 p.m. Discuss Next Steps
12:15 p.m. – 12:30 p.m. Public Comment, Other Business, 2022 Meeting Plans, Wrap-up
The Office of Broadband Development has released the county broadband maps and numbers; the data was collected by October 2021. For archival reasons, I’ll do three different posting looking at:
Turns out the gig ranking is where all of the excitement is in terms of change in ranking. I’ll paste the numbers below but they’re available in a spreadsheet too. It’s worth nothing that the top county shows 99.59 percent of households have access to Gig access; the bottom 10 counties have less than 1 percent coverage.
Top Ten Gig Counties
| County | Percent | ranking | last year Ranking |
| Clearwater | 99.59 | 1 | 5 |
| Beltrami | 99.23 | 2 | 1 |
| Stevens | 96.79 | 3 | 2 |
| Cook | 94.5 | 4 | 3 |
| Red Lake | 93.85 | 5 | 6 |
| Lake | 93.23 | 6 | 4 |
| Pennington | 92.86 | 7 | 46 |
| Lincoln | 88.88 | 8 | 45 |
| Steele | 86.73 | 9 | 11 |
| Olmsted | 80.56 | 10 | 33 |
Worth noting that all of these are rural counties! Big congrats to the new counties on this short list, especially to Pennington, Lincoln and Olmsted.
I hear policy makers talking about ways to use public funding to build networks only required to get to speeds of 25/3 and I think about the deepening divide between those areas and these counties. These counties, especially given rural standing, make the case that we can aim higher.
Bottom Ten Counties
| County | Percent | ranking | Last year Ranking |
| Benton | 0.79 | 78 | 73 |
| Anoka | 0.13 | 79 | 75 |
| Faribault | 0.09 | 80 | 80 |
| Isanti | 0.06 | 81 | 79 |
| Pine | 0.01 | 82 | 86 |
| Kanabec | 0 | 83 | 82 |
| Martin | 0 | 84 | 84 |
| Mille Lacs | 0 | 85 | 85 |
| Ramsey | 0 | 86 | 81 |
| Washington | 0 | 87 | 76 |
There’s not much change in the bottom list. Harder to go lower than 1 percent. But it’s interesting to look at the counties on the list. Ramsey County ranks third for access to 100/20 and lands 86 for Gig access. Anoka is number 11 with access to 25/3 and number 79 here.
Looking at these reports for several years, I’ve seen the leap-frogging that can happen when a community is focused on (or limited or funded) to a specific speed. Usually I’ve seen it with access to 25/3. A community aims and succeeds and they are top of the game for a limited time. More recently we’ve seen that those “successful” communities become ineligible for funding for improvement. The thirst for broadband is ever increasing with new applications and post pandemic reliance on remote access. The once successful communities get left behind like the Little League baseball player who stops practicing. I think the top of the Gig chart are the communities that are ready.
| County | Percent | ranking |
| Clearwater | 99.59 | 1 |
| Beltrami | 99.23 | 2 |
| Stevens | 96.79 | 3 |
| Cook | 94.5 | 4 |
| Red Lake | 93.85 | 5 |
| Lake | 93.23 | 6 |
| Pennington | 92.86 | 7 |
| Lincoln | 88.88 | 8 |
| Steele | 86.73 | 9 |
| Olmsted | 80.56 | 10 |
| Kittson | 80.13 | 11 |
| Lac qui Parle | 79.23 | 12 |
| Winona | 76.09 | 13 |
| Wadena | 75.89 | 14 |
| Grant | 71.99 | 15 |
| Jackson | 68.84 | 16 |
| Itasca | 67.64 | 17 |
| Dodge | 65.96 | 18 |
| Wabasha | 65.86 | 19 |
| Freeborn | 65.15 | 20 |
| Marshall | 55.33 | 21 |
| Goodhue | 54.73 | 22 |
| Hubbard | 54.15 | 23 |
| Big Stone | 52.94 | 24 |
| Cottonwood | 50.2 | 25 |
| Houston | 49.76 | 26 |
| Mahnomen | 49.14 | 27 |
| Rock | 47.94 | 28 |
| Rice | 47.52 | 29 |
| Swift | 47.52 | 30 |
| Morrison | 44.24 | 31 |
| Sibley | 43.92 | 32 |
| Crow Wing | 42.54 | 33 |
| Polk | 40.95 | 34 |
| Norman | 40.7 | 35 |
| Pope | 39.91 | 36 |
| Scott | 39.06 | 37 |
| Roseau | 36.59 | 38 |
| Todd | 36.06 | 39 |
| Carver | 34.8 | 40 |
| Becker | 33.9 | 41 |
| Douglas | 32.35 | 42 |
| Cass | 31.28 | 43 |
| Fillmore | 26.94 | 44 |
| Renville | 26.93 | 45 |
| Waseca | 26.12 | 46 |
| Wilkin | 26.04 | 47 |
| Mower | 25.1 | 48 |
| Lake of the Woods | 22.81 | 49 |
| Otter Tail | 20.76 | 50 |
| Watonwan | 18.58 | 51 |
| Hennepin | 17.62 | 52 |
| Nicollet | 17.47 | 53 |
| Clay | 17.12 | 54 |
| Chippewa | 15.86 | 55 |
| Aiktin | 15.58 | 56 |
| Nobles | 14.96 | 57 |
| Traverse | 14.57 | 58 |
| Pipestone | 12.85 | 59 |
| Stearns | 12.31 | 60 |
| Meeker | 10.72 | 61 |
| Wright | 9.59 | 62 |
| McLeod | 8.81 | 63 |
| Chisago | 7.7 | 64 |
| Koochiching | 7.51 | 65 |
| Lyon | 7.11 | 66 |
| St. Louis | 6.97 | 67 |
| Redwood | 6.47 | 68 |
| Le Sueur | 5.16 | 69 |
| Dakota | 4.96 | 70 |
| Murray | 4.66 | 71 |
| Brown | 4.01 | 72 |
| Carlton | 4.01 | 73 |
| Sherburne | 3.6 | 74 |
| Blue Earth | 2.79 | 75 |
| Kandiyohi | 1.73 | 76 |
| Yellow Medicine | 1.25 | 77 |
| Benton | 0.79 | 78 |
| Anoka | 0.13 | 79 |
| Faribault | 0.09 | 80 |
| Isanti | 0.06 | 81 |
| Pine | 0.01 | 82 |
| Kanabec | 0 | 83 |
| Martin | 0 | 84 |
| Mille Lacs | 0 | 85 |
| Ramsey | 0 | 86 |
| Washington | 0 | 87 |
Source: Connected Nation, Oct. 2021.
The Office of Broadband Development has released the county broadband maps and numbers; the data was collected by October 2021. For archival reasons, I’ll do three different posting looking at:
Top 10 Commentary
The speed goal for 2022 is ubiquitous access to speeds of 25 Mbps down and 3 up. Rankings are posted below but also available as a spreadsheet. The good news is that the top 9 counties have more than 99 percent covered. There has been little change in the top 10 counties since last reporting.
Bottom 10 Commentary
The bad news is that the bottom 10 have less than 70 percent coverage. The bottom ranking is also pretty similar with one exception: Isanti went from 78.8 percent coverage to 59.75 coverage this year, which drops them from 66 to 84 ranking. This is because of a change from census block data to more granular data from CenturyLink. (Both CenturyLink and Charter/Spectrum went with more granular reporting and that has had an impact on numbers.)
Biggest Changers
A couple of counties saw big movement. Faribault went from 35 to 17 rank – although the percentage of coverage didn’t increase much, the competition for those with over 90 percent coverage is close. That’s a good sign! Redwood went from 73 to 62. Again, a little percentage gain can mean a lot. Like Isanti mentioned above, a few counties lost percentage and ranking – possibly due to the change from census block to location reporting. Those counties with greatest change in rank include: Rice, Sherburne, St Louis, Wright, Stearns and Swift. It’s worth noting that this doesn’t reflection a change in coverage as much as a correction/change in reporting.
| County | percent | ranking |
| Red Lake | 99.99 | 1 |
| Ramsey | 99.95 | 2 |
| Rock | 99.93 | 3 |
| Lac qui Parle | 99.84 | 4 |
| Clearwater | 99.72 | 5 |
| Beltrami | 99.43 | 6 |
| Lincoln | 99.33 | 7 |
| Pennington | 99.24 | 8 |
| Stevens | 99.22 | 9 |
| Hennepin | 98.97 | 10 |
| Anoka | 98.23 | 11 |
| Big Stone | 98.22 | 12 |
| Swift | 97.72 | 13 |
| Dakota | 97.48 | 14 |
| Washington | 96.45 | 15 |
| Hubbard | 96.36 | 16 |
| Faribault | 96.32 | 17 |
| Wadena | 95.88 | 18 |
| Grant | 95.35 | 19 |
| Cook | 94.50 | 20 |
| Olmsted | 94.48 | 21 |
| Clay | 93.80 | 22 |
| Lake | 93.34 | 23 |
| Scott | 93.29 | 24 |
| Houston | 92.65 | 25 |
| Polk | 92.55 | 26 |
| Cass | 92.48 | 27 |
| Itasca | 92.38 | 28 |
| Sherburne | 92.25 | 29 |
| Carver | 92.11 | 30 |
| Otter Tail | 91.50 | 31 |
| Becker | 90.29 | 32 |
| Benton | 89.74 | 33 |
| Rice | 89.58 | 34 |
| Stearns | 89.10 | 35 |
| Winona | 88.59 | 36 |
| Steele | 88.22 | 37 |
| Douglas | 88.20 | 38 |
| Mower | 87.51 | 39 |
| Wright | 86.72 | 40 |
| Crow Wing | 86.68 | 41 |
| Freeborn | 86.62 | 42 |
| Kandiyohi | 86.54 | 43 |
| Roseau | 85.84 | 44 |
| Dodge | 84.84 | 45 |
| Brown | 84.66 | 46 |
| Nobles | 83.74 | 47 |
| Lyon | 83.57 | 48 |
| Nicollet | 83.40 | 49 |
| Mahnomen | 83.24 | 50 |
| Wilkin | 83.02 | 51 |
| Chippewa | 82.93 | 52 |
| Pope | 82.73 | 53 |
| Blue Earth | 82.48 | 54 |
| St. Louis | 81.95 | 55 |
| Pipestone | 81.52 | 56 |
| Martin | 81.45 | 57 |
| McLeod | 80.56 | 58 |
| Goodhue | 80.32 | 59 |
| Kittson | 80.20 | 60 |
| Norman | 79.43 | 61 |
| Redwood | 78.90 | 62 |
| Marshall | 77.90 | 63 |
| Watonwan | 77.17 | 64 |
| Waseca | 76.36 | 65 |
| Koochiching | 75.94 | 66 |
| Chisago | 75.86 | 67 |
| Le Sueur | 75.59 | 68 |
| Lake of the Woods | 75.18 | 69 |
| Morrison | 74.67 | 70 |
| Meeker | 74.42 | 71 |
| Wabasha | 73.90 | 72 |
| Cottonwood | 73.80 | 73 |
| Renville | 73.48 | 74 |
| Todd | 72.94 | 75 |
| Mille Lacs | 70.53 | 76 |
| Fillmore | 70.35 | 77 |
| Jackson | 69.33 | 78 |
| Traverse | 67.87 | 79 |
| Aitkin | 62.36 | 81 |
| Sibley | 67.32 | 80 |
| Carlton | 62.07 | 82 |
| Yellow Medicine | 61.90 | 83 |
| Isanti | 59.75 | 84 |
| Murray | 57.83 | 85 |
| Pine | 46.01 | 86 |
| Kanabec | 36.41 | 87 |
| Source: Connected Nation, Oct. 2021. |
I will plan to attend and I will livestream. Everyone is welcome to attend the actual meeting and there’s always time for public comment – but sometimes it’s easier to view on Facebook.
Governor’s Task Force on Broadband
November 1, 2021
10:00 a.m. – 12:30 p.m.
Click here to join the meeting
Join with a video conferencing device mn@m.webex.com
Video Conference ID: 115 972 031 9
Alternate VTC instructions
There are two positions open at the Office of Broadband Development:
Grants Specialist Coordinator – Broadband Grants Administrator
The Broadband Grants Administrator position exists as part of the Office of Broadband Development. The Office develops and administers programs designed to achieve high quality broadband access for all Minnesotans and to support and promote the skills necessary to adopt and use broadband tools for economic, educational, health, and institutional benefits. The incumbent will develop, promote, implement, and provide technical assistance for state and federally funded financing programs for the Office of Broadband Development. This position will support and maximize Minnesota entities’ participation in federally funded broadband infrastructure programs. This position also conducts program evaluation, reporting and administers programs including:
• Border-to-Border Infrastructure Grant Program: which provides state and federal financing for DEED approved broadband infrastructure expansion projects
• Digital literacy, broadband adoption and use programs DEED is committed to radically increasing economic impacts for individuals and businesses that face systematic barriers to growth.
This position will contribute to efforts to build a positive internal culture that makes DEED an extraordinary place to work! If you want to make an impact and help people create possibilities, come and be a part of our amazing team!
State Program Administrator – Broadband Program Assistant
The Broadband Program Assistant position exists to assist in the administration of projects and programs for the Office of Broadband Development. This includes preliminary review and evaluation of grant applications, contract processing and grant bookkeeping and reporting. The incumbent will also provide technical and organizational support of projects and task forces, as well as coordinate and manage marketing materials, communication announcements and inquiries. The position is responsible for examining, processing, and tracking invoices, expenses, and acquisitions to ensure accuracy and prompt payment using electronic and paper filing and database systems. The Broadband Program Assistant also provides technical assistance to clients and responds to client inquiries with program information.
The jobs are open until November 4. You would be working with good people and hopefully soon in a position to helping Minnesota communities get better broadband.
Blandin on Broadband 