It's not working out that way, and we would like to see leaders in the Minnesota congressional delegation and Gov. Tim Walz involved in straightening out what seems to be a growing bureaucratic mess. A recent report in MinnPost showed broadband industry leaders saying the requirements for applying for the money are onerous and impractical for many broadband providers.
Federal requirements call for broadband providers to complete "liens" on new equipment they provide and to commit to selling service to low-income consumers at prices that are too low to cover costs or make profits.
"My members are telling me they're not going to participate," Brent Christensen, president and CEO of Minnesota Telecom Alliance, told MinnPost. Christensen was formerly vice president and general manager for Christensen Communications, a family owned business based in Madelia. The trade group represents mostly smaller Internet companies.
He said many companies would not be able to meet the requirement for placing liens on new infrastructure in a trust with the federal agency managing the projects. And he said providing below cost service works when companies have a large customer base to spread the costs, but many smaller companies don't have that base.
The federal rules call for providers who get the funding to offer high speed Internet service for $47 per month and up to $62 per month with a waiver.
The process has been slow. Nearly four years since the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law was passed, no awards have been granted. That stems in part from a lengthy process to gather information on where service is not provided. The public can point out where it doesn't have service, but those maps then can be challenged.
That's what happening now with a targeted completion date by the end of the year, leading to possible construction of new service in 2026. There would be three rounds of applications for funds in 2025.
Members of the Minnesota Cable Communications Association, another trade group representing larger companies, are likely to participate at some level in areas near where they already provide service and but on a smaller scale, according Executive Director Melissa Wolf.
Minnesota's own border-to-border broadband initiative has been funding projects for several years, though at a much smaller scale, allocating $20 million to $30 million a year. Wolf said if the state had been able to funnel the federal money through the already existing state program, expansion projects could have already been completed.
Minnesota's broadband office has been pushing federal deadlines and the state has already asked for one extension.
The industry groups have been raising these issues for several months, but the state response seems to be to wait for the process to play out. We believe the state should provide more resources to help the industry navigate these federal government hurdles or create more incentives for them to invest.
Waiting for the bureaucracy to consume all incentives for companies to invest in broadband runs the risk of missing out on this huge one-time investment in broadband. It could still be a game changer.
©2024 The Free Press, Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.
