John Reinan

Sen Amy Klobuchar (D-MN) has made the issue of rural broadband a major talking point as she begins her campaign for the Democratic presidential nomination. Gov Tim Walz (D-MN) has promised he’d attack the problem like a “moonshot.” Meanwhile, a Republican-sponsored bill with bipartisan support is making its way through the Minnesota Legislature, promising $35 million a year in each of the next two years for rural broadband upgrades. All the talk about addressing the issue is encouraging, broadband advocates say.

Providing high-speed internet in rural MN today is as vital as providing rural electricity was some 80 years ago, said Jason Hollinday, planning director for the Fond du Lac (MN) Band of Lake Superior Chippewa. That’s why the band has taken the unusual step of creating its own broadband company to provide fiber-optic internet service throughout its reservation, about 20 miles west of Duluth. “We’re giving people the tools to live in the 21st century,” Hollinday said. “It’s like when they were electrifying the rural areas.