News from the Office of Broadband Development…

Forty applications for the Border to Border Broadband Development grant program were received and the challenge process was initiated on November 5th. Because of the detail that must be reviewed to determine whether and what to challenge, the OBD has received multiple requests for an extension of the challenge deadline. The OBD will extend the challenge deadline to 4:00 p.m. on Friday, November 21, 2014.  Any challenges must be submitted to the Office of Broadband Development, Minnesota Department of Employment and Economic Development, 1^st National Bank Building, 332 Minnesota Street, Suite E200, St. Paul, MN 55101. As a reminder, a list of the applications filed and instructions on how to file a challenge, if necessary, are available at http://mn.gov/deed/programs-services/broadband/grant-program/index.jsp under the “Application Process” tab. This list was updated November 13, 2014. The OBD, as noted on the table, does have pdf maps for many of the projects that were not included in the challenge document. If a potential challenger is interested in reviewing those maps to prepare a challenge, please contact us at deed.broadband@state.mn.us or at 651/259-7610 to request those maps.