As originally posted in the Blandin Foundation April 2013 eNews…

Good planning, collaboration and action!  Seems to be the recipe for success.

A regional broadband event, a draft feasibility report and an email from a newly satisfied broadband consumer have me thinking about the path to achieving the Minnesota broadband goal.

Congratulations to the organizers of the East Central Broadband Summit.  With 80 attendees and the active participation of many broadband providers, it was an exciting day of active conversation.  The organizers are now following up on at least a couple of the priorities identified at the event and it will be interesting to see if the conversations begun at the Summit can lead to broadband solutions – wired, wireless or hybrid – in these five underserved communities.

Redwood County is now reviewing the feasibility study partially funded through the Blandin Foundation Robust Broadband Networks Feasibility Fund program.  The study examines a couple of options for bringing Redwood County up to the state broadband standard.  The study is unique in its significant assumption about the role of the area incumbent providers.  Again, it will be interesting to see if study and discussion can lead to a broadband solution.

The email that I received was from a health professional who had contacted me more than a year ago about her frustration with a lack of broadband at her home in northeastern Minnesota.  Thanks to the entrepreneurial folks at Laurentian Wireless, her situation has greatly improved.