The Minnesota Department of Employment and Economic Development (DEED) today announced its Office of Broadband Development (OBD) will host informational sessions before the federal Broadband, Equity, Access & Deployment (BEAD) Program Location Challenge window opens. The challenge process helps finalize broadband service maps defining eligibility for federally subsidized broadband infrastructure projects. During the informational sessions, OBD will share resources with eligible challengers – tribal and local units of government, internet service providers (ISPs) and nonprofits – interested in participating in the BEAD Challenge Process.

Following are the in-person events:

• June 25 from 1:30-3:30 p.m. in Detroit Lakes (at the CareerForce Center, 803 Roosevelt Ave.)
• June 26 from 10 a.m.-12 p.m. in Chisholm (at the State of MN Office Building on the Minnesota Discovery Center campus, 1003 Discovery Drive)
• July 10 from, 3:30-5:30 p.m. in Rochester (at the Wood Lake Meeting Center, 210 Wood Lake Drive SE)
• July 11 from 1:30-3:30 p.m. in New Ulm (at the New Ulm Civic Center, 1212 N Franklin St., room 203).

Planning for online webinars and recurring office hours is also underway; that information will be posted on the OBD website as details are confirmed. Anyone who would like to learn about the process and eligibility for BEAD funding is invited to the in-person or online informational sessions. A closed information session for all tribal nations will be held in July and hosted by the Lower Sioux Indian Community.

Through BEAD, Minnesota was allocated $652 million in funding to achieve Internet for All as defined by National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA). Prior to beginning the Challenge Phase, OBD will publish a state map identifying current broadband service as:

• Unserved: having broadband service with download speeds of less than 25 megabits per second and upload speeds of less than 3 megabits per second (25/3 Mbps)
• Underserved: having broadband service with speeds less than 100/20 Mbps but above 25/3 Mbps.
• Served: having broadband service with speed of at least 100/20 Mbps.

"Broadband is an essential economic resource that supports business and community vitality," said DEED Commissioner Matt Varilek. "A robust statewide broadband infrastructure allows Minnesotans to connect to jobs, education, health care and their communities, which helps make Minnesota the best state for families, workers and businesses."

"This mapping challenge process is a crucial step to help OBD ensure locations are accurately defined as unserved or underserved," said OBD Executive Director Bree Maki. "We'll use these critical details to ensure federal broadband development funding is directed to those areas." 

Areas identified as unserved and underserved are eligible for BEAD funding; served areas are not eligible. The BEAD Challenge Process is a period for eligible challengers to submit challenges on whether broadband service for a given location has been accurately defined. Once the Challenge Phase opens, eligible challengers have 30 calendar days to submit a challenge to OBD.

The federal BEAD funds supplement Minnesota's Border-to-Border program, established in 2014. To date, OBD has awarded nearly $350 million in Border-to-Border, Lower Population Density and Line Extension grants through nine rounds of state-funded grants – expanding service to more than 112,000 homes and businesses statewide.