Why Minnesota is unlikely to meet its broadband expansion goals on time, despite influx of federal cash

During a stop in Minnesota in June 2023, US Secretary of Commerce Gina Raimondo made a promise: The $652 million earmarked for Minnesota to help build infrastructure for rural high-speed internet would be enough to finally cover every part of the state. Is that true? It depends, it turns out, on how you define a finished job. When calculating who has access to proper broadband, the federal government counts much slower internet speeds compared to Minnesota’s definition. As a result, the cash may be enough to hit federal goals for universal broadband, but not state ones. Here are three things to know about what is, by any measure, a huge influx of cash meant to help telecom companies and other broadband developers build fiber-optic cable and other infrastructure across Minnesota:

1. The money probably won’t arrive for years:  But state officials say it could take another two years before Minnesota can spend its share. Once the money arrives, it will likely need to be spent over “numerous years.”
2. It’s (still) not enough to fully hit state goals for speed: Even if the federal money were to arrive faster, it still wouldn’t be enough cash to fully hit the state’s broadband goals, because the state has higher standards for speed than the federal government. 
3. Officials are keen to prevent another LTD debacle: The last time Minnesota was in line for such a large influx in cash for broadband infrastructure, it turned into a bona fide debacle. LTD faced a litany of questions from competitors and broadband advocates about its ability to actually meet its promises and build infrastructure. Eventually, LTD came under state investigation and then had its awards revoked by the FCC, almost two years after winning them. The company CEO always maintained LTD could do the work. But either way, Minnesota was left in the lurch.