The Minnesota Senate Republican Caucus reports…

The Office of Broadband Development (OBD) recently announced the first round of Broadband Line Extension Connection Program awards, which provides nearly $4.4 million to expand wired broadband throughout Minnesota. Internet providers carrying out the projects matched the state funding at $2.2 million, bringing the total investment to more than $6.6 million….

This funding will deliver at least 100 Mbps download and 100 Mbps upload to 843 locations across 32 counties. Of these locations, 779 are residences and 64 are businesses–21 of which are in Senate District 9.

“Back in 2022, when I was in the House of Representatives, I served as the chief sponsor of legislation to establish the Broadband Line Extension Connection Program,” said Senator Jordan Rasmusson (R-Fergus Falls). “This is a cost-effective approach to closing internet gaps throughout the state. With the first round of funding now complete, I am thrilled to see so many households and businesses utilize this resource. The Office of Broadband will be facilitating more grant rounds in the future, and I look forward to seeing the continued success of this program.”

It is often expensive for broadband service providers to extend their fiber optic cables to underserved households and businesses, as they are mostly in rural communities. That is why the Broadband Line Extension Connection Program, which was established through Sen. Rasmusson’s HF3605, extends broadband service through a reverse auction process. This means OBD selects broadband provider bids that request the least amount of financial support to fund broadband line extension projects.

 

A Line Extension Program funds locations that are unserved (no access to broadband at speeds of 25 Mbps down and 3 up) and that are just beyond the reach of an existing broadband connection. Think of the home at the end of the rural road or with the mile-long driveway.

Minnesota is in the middle of our first cycle of Line Extension Funding. The Office of Broadband Development created a portal where folks who need a line extension submit a request for their address. Every six months, the OBD will send that list to providers. Providers need to notify the OBD of any addresses they do serve. Then a reverse auction will begin on the culled addresses. That is where the process is now. Those bids are due in July; in September, the OBD will announce the winning bidders, who will then have a year to build the extension.

The line extension must be scalable to 100/100 Mbps. Each line extension award is capped at $25,000 – regardless of how many people might be served by the extension. (So the extension to the cul-de-sac of 6 houses is capped at $25,000 for the project not for each house.) The provider gets the funding, not the resident.

I had some reservations about the Line Extension because it potentially took the community out of the picture and in Minnesota, community broadband planning has been successful. My concern was that new home builders in well heeled suburbs or super fancy cabins at the lake cabin would be the bulk of subscribers. I was also concerned that this would impact funding for community broadband both because it means less funding for Border to Border grants but also because it might quiet vocal community broadband advocates who benefitted from a line extension.

We’re still mid process but it turns out 2100 people submitted their locations from all over the state. That is because the OBD and local community broadband advocates promoted the heck out of this opportunity. So, I’m feeling hopeful but I remain curious about how others are doing their Line Extensions. Pew just published details on the eight states that are offering Line Extension funds.

Here are notes on the other programs through a lens of how they differ from Minnesota:

California: The program began in 2019. They fund wired and wireless connections; affordability is a component. They have only awarded funds to three projects so far, including almost $300,000 to Cruzio Media in Salinas for Fixed Wireless. It sounds like it was a way to get broadband to low-income households in a specific community during the pandemic.

Indiana: The program is similar to Minnesota’s but the providers only need to build to speeds of 50/5. I spoke with someone when the MN Legislature was looking at the Line Extension and they felt positive about how it was going in Indiana.

Vermont: It sounds like the homeowner (or person submitting the address) receives the funding of up to $3000 to offset the costs of an extension. In 2020 and 2021, they awarded 800 grants. It’s unclear to me whether the homeowner needs to have an arrangement with a provider before requesting funds. The program has ended although they are collecting contact info for folks who might be interested.

Maine: Maine is very different. They are working with providers who have applied to work on line extensions. They will work together to decide where to build. Fiber is encouraged. Deadline for completion is 2025 and the provider must invest $700 per location.

Virginia: Virginia’s program is income based. They will pay up to $10 per linear foot for overhead infrastructure and up to $15 per linear foot for underground builds and work with pre-qualified providers. The resident can apply directly or apply through a provider referral.

West Virginia: West Virginia works entirely with the providers on larger scale projects helping existing providers stretch their service boundaries by at least 50 locations per project. Each provider must invest $500 per location.

Pennsylvania: The Line Extension in Pennsylvania sounds more like Minnesota’s Border to Border program to me. Providers can apply for $500,000 to $10 million grants to connect unserved residents and must contribute at least 25% of the total project costs and must adhere to ARPA requirements.