As originally posted on Blandin Broadband eNews …

The Minnesota broadband policy pot is beginning to simmer and will soon be at a boil. For the first time, we have the following in place at one time: an Office of Broadband Development, aggressive state task force funding recommendations, a team of legislative champions, and proposed broadband funding, with a state budget surplus!

At the federal level, the FCC is seeking innovative solutions to rural broadband deployment through its proposed experimental program.

With all this positive energy, community leaders might think that they can just sit back and watch fiber deployment happen across their piece of rural Minnesota. That is wrong, wrong, wrong!

On the legislative side, constituents need to let their senators and representatives know that broadband funding is a HIGH priority. Monitoring the various and understanding how various amendments might affect the final outcome of the legislation is a critical and constant task. There are many competing demands for the available surplus supported by well-organized stakeholder groups. If Internet Service Providers and community broadband advocates cannot get on the same page, legislators might support initiatives where there is more consensus.

At the legislature and at the FCC, there seems to be a “solve this problem one place at a time” mindset. It does not appear that there will be a “top-down, one size fits all” solution. This approach bodes well for the well prepared – for those communities/counties/regions with public-private partnerships or public sector strategies in process, for those who are committed to add their own funds to supplement the FCC or state dollars, for those with “shovel-ready” projects. Can you include your area in that readiness category? With 500,000 unserved Minnesota households, appropriated funds fall short of need.

My advice: don’t sit and wait for someone else to deliver a solution. Follow the successful path of those communities whose federally funded stimulus fiber networks are almost now complete; they were prepared when that funding became available. Put your community at the front of the line with aggressive planning and partnering now so that you can adjust your plans to fit whatever programs and dollars emerge over the next several months.