Exploring the State’s Role in Broadband Ubiquity

"Communities have to be plugged in to play," said Bernadine Joselyn, director of public policy and engagement for the Blandin Foundation. She spoke at a foundation breakfast meeting this morning in St. Paul called Rural Minnesota at the Digital Crossroads. "Access denied is opportunity denied," she said.

The point of the breakfast was to present the case for rural broadband to some of the new legislators at the capitol. Many were in attendance early on--the breakfast began at 7:30--but the numbers dwindled a bit as session start time drew near.

"Policies really matter," said Joselyn. "The work our legislative representatives do matters for rural communities, to have access to and use broadband."

Lieutenant Governor Yvonne Prettner Solon made the case that the state has already done a lot to foster broadband expansion. She noted that as a senator representing St. Louis County, she had a hand in broadband mapping efforts, pushed then-Gov. Tim Pawlenty to apply for federal grants and authored a bill that set a goal of universal 10 megabits-per-second download speeds by 2015.

"I understood then, as Gov. Dayton and I understand now, how vital broadband is to Minnesota, not just in urban areas but in rural areas, too," Prettner Solon said.

"We do need to invest in it," she added. "We in the state government need to collaborate with local governments, the federal government, stakeholders and the private sector." It wasn't clear from the breakfast discussion that any specific investment proposals would be made.

Gary Evans, CEO of Hiawatha Broadband Communications, which specializes in smaller-city networks in Minnesota and also helps manage the municipal network in Monticello, offered some suggestions for how legislators can help. "I believe this is a great time for the state to put forth a proposal to leverage its resources with the federal government to bring high-speed internet to communities in need."

The proposal, Evans said, should remove barriers to broadband development and marry private enterprise with state and federal resources. "It should be futuristic. It should reach way beyond the federal definition of broadband, 4 megabits per second. That kind of plan would resonate well with decision makers in D.C.," he said, and make Minnesota a national model.

Citing work done by the Minnesota Ultra High-Speed Broadband Task Force as well as Blandin's Broadband Strategy Board, on which Evans serves, he urged the Gov. Dayton administration to make it easier for cities to build their own broadband networks. "It's time to put aside business jealously," he said. "We need to allow cities to move forward if incumbent providers are not interested in improving their networks or working with their communities."

Specifically, Evans suggested doing away with an old state law that requires municipalities to draw super-majority community support of 65 percent before getting into the telephone business. Because most broadband projects include telephone, the law comes into play.

The public vote has been a hurdle just about everywhere in the state where there is a municipal network, including in Monticello (where 74 percent of the public voted yes). And it'll be a hurdle for communities endeavoring to build future networks, including Sibley County and others. Evans' comment was followed by applause.

"Broadband is an area where Minnesota should lead," he said. "Don't let the work of the Minnesota Ultra High-Speed Broadband Task Force and the Blandin Broadband Strategy Board fade because of an unwillingness to act at the state level."

Sen. Tom Saxhaug, DFL - Grand Rapids, took the mic sounding game. After apologizing for the fact that many of the legislators at the breakfast had departed for the capitol, he noted that broadband can bring economic vitality to rural areas.

"Even though I'm not a great techie," he said, "I am into economic development. I used to think that in rural Minnesota diversification was really important. Now I think 'value-added' is an important word. If we have rural education and want to add some value so our kids have at least the opportunities children do down here, we need to get with online learning. It's important to us in rural Minnesota."

He added, "Anything worth doing or having, such as a great rural population, is worth the government helping with."

For more on broadband efforts and debate in the state, visit Ground Level's topic page.

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