@Mark Ollig
For many rural Minnesotans, accessing healthcare through telehealth is difficult, or sometimes impossible, due to slow internet speeds and a shortage of nearby clinics or doctors.
For many rural Minnesotans, accessing healthcare through telehealth is difficult, or sometimes impossible, due to slow internet speeds and a shortage of nearby clinics or doctors.
I recently read the 2024 annual report from the Minnesota Office of Broadband Development (OBD), published Jan. 15, 2025.
The report highlights the need to expand broadband internet access in underserved areas, as recommended by the Minnesota Department of Health, to enhance telehealth service availability.
In March 2024, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) redefined broadband standards as having a minimum download speed of 100 mbps and an upload speed of 20 mbps.
The 2024 OBD report reveals that 89,000 households in Minnesota do not have access to the 100/20 mbps broadband standard.
Additionally, 143,000 households lack access to the older 25/3 mbps benchmark.
According to table three on page 17 of the report, while 99.57% of metro households meet the 100/20 mbps goal, only 91.61% of households in greater Minnesota do.
You can read the OBD report athttps://bit.ly/4imuVSj.
The FCC’s Affordable Connectivity Program (ACP) ended June 1, 2024, affecting 245,000 low-income households in Minnesota.
The loss of congressional ACP funding has further limited broadband access for Minnesota’s low-income residents, seniors, rural communities, and indigenous tribal nations.
Introduced March 1, 2024, and currently under legislative review, Minnesota Senate File (SF) 2889 aims to modernize broadband development and promote digital equity throughout the state.
The SF 2889 bill stresses digital inclusion and proposes renaming the state’s broadband office to the ‘Office of Broadband Development and Digital Equity,’ dedicating this office to coordinating these efforts.
Here’s a closer look at what SF 2889 outlines.
Section one amends data privacy rules concerning internet service provider data shared with the state’s broadband office and officially renames that office as the Office of Broadband Development and Digital Equity.
Section two reinforces this by amending the office’s primary statute to reflect the new name and its expanded focus on broadband adoption and digital inclusion for underserved populations.
It also details the office’s role in statewide planning and adds requirements for enrollment data and equity recommendations in annual reports.
Section three makes a conforming amendment to section 116J.391, subdivision one, for consistency with the office’s updated name and focus.
Section four updates key Broadband Grant Program definitions, importantly setting the “underserved areas” benchmark at the modern 100 mbps download / 20 mbps upload standard and defining qualifying wireless services as “served.”
Section five amends section 116J.395 to revise the priorities of the border-to-border Broadband Grant Program.
It requires that at least 50% of its funds go to projects meeting workforce standards, thereby linking broadband expansion with job creation.
Section seven introduces a grant program for apartments and manufactured home parks, focused on improving broadband access and digital equity.
The program finances infrastructure upgrades, affordable services, and digital inclusion initiatives, targeting high-need areas.
Section eight amends the existing statute (116J.397) for broadband data collection and mapping.
The office continues its ongoing work under this statute, which has been required since 2016.
This includes independent data collection and verification, analysis for investment planning, adoption surveys, and the production of annual public service availability maps, which are due each April 15.
Section nine establishes clear statewide goals for 2028: 95% of households should have broadband, 70% of eligible households should use service discounts, and 95% should own a computer or similar device for accessing the internet.
Minnesota SF 2889 has been referred to the Senate Agriculture, Veterans, Broadband, and Rural Development Committee.
You can follow its progress and read the full text of the bill on the Minnesota Office of the Revisor of Statutes: .
The $42.45 billion federal Broadband Equity, Access, and Deployment (BEAD) program, funded by the 2021 Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act and including funding for broadband internet to states, faces potential rollout delays nationwide.
Minnesota, which was allocated $651.8 million from BEAD, is concerned these delays will impact the deployment of broadband projects in our state.
Seeking to prevent funding holdups, our state’s broadband office formally made its concerns known to the US Commerce Department in early April of this year.
Other states have also raised concerns.
The success of broadband projects depends not only on securing funding but also on safely deploying a qualified workforce.
Minnesota Statute 326B.198 establishes the Safety-Qualified Underground Telecommunications Installer Certification Program through the Department of Labor and Industry (DLI) to enhance safety.
Installers must complete 40 hours of training, pass an exam, and take a four-hour refresher every three years.
At least two certified installers are required for horizontal directional drilling (HDD) of fiber optic cables.
The certification starts July 1 of this year in the Twin Cities and Jan. 1, 2026, for the rest of Minnesota, with DLI-approved training programs.
You can read Minnesota Statute 326B.198 at .
Many decades ago, while working at the Winsted Telephone Company, my brother and I regularly buried telephone cables beneath highways and driveways.
We used a Case Davis Fleetline 40+4 trencher, equipped with a Ditch Witch Hydro-Boring unit powered by the Case’s hydraulic system.
Ten-foot sections of one-inch internal diameter pipe were connected with clips and then pushed forward while being rotated to bore a tunnel under the driveway or highway.
Once the tunnel bore was complete, we attached a rope to the end of the pipe string and used it to pull the pipes back out, leaving the rope running through the tunnel.
Then, we secured the telephone cable to the end of that rope using a wire mesh grip (often called a cable sock).
We used the trencher to pull the rope, which drew the cable through the tunnel.
Then, we pulled enough cable to reach the nearest ground-level pedestal, where it was spliced.
Minnesota is working to provide broadband access in rural and underserved areas.
Affordable broadband internet should be available to everyone.
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| McLeod County - per MN Broadband data (2024) |
