Minnesotans raise their hands for FCC broadband money

Rural and small-town residents of Minnesota are waving their arms more fervently than just about anybody else in the country to latch on to federal help for better Internet service.

Small phone companies, electrical utilities, townships, cities and newly formed cooperatives have flooded the Federal Communications Commission with ready-made project ideas that would get fast broadband service where it’s never been. At the same time, three big national companies that provide phone and Internet service to much of rural Minnesota are going to make decisions in the coming months that could determine for years what the rural broadband landscape will look like. On both those fronts, the FCC is on a track that could substantially alter the landscape for high-speed Internet in rural Minnesota by the end of the year.